The Calling
by MaddeThee
Summary: Axel fights for his life alongside his friends in a world he thought would have never come true. Zombie AU AkuRoku, rated M for a reason. Violence, romance, death, etc. Axel POV. First fic, so go nice on me ;) "If nothing lasts forever, will you be my nothing?"
1. Chapter 1: When It Started

**AN: Hello. This is my first AkuRoku fic, and my first fic overall. Please go easy on me, I don't usually do creative writing (of any sort), and don't read very often. I'd love constructive criticism... anything to improve my writing. **

**But anyway, this is a apocalyptic zombie fic, so it may get violent. You've been warned. For all you smut lovers, there probs will be sex too. **

**Blahblahblah and now on to the story.**

* * *

_Darkness surrounded me like rain falling on street pavement. There was no reasoning with it, nothing to do, and it swallowed me up like the mouth of a whale. All I know now is that the pain coursing through my veins disappeared. My entire body has stopped screaming for help, and is slowly becoming numb to any feeling, my mind lazily floating through a black sea. They finally got to me. I've been running from something I knew was going to capture me, but I blindly pushed on, despite knowing my fate. I knew I was going to be found, seized like an animal in a trap. I'm arrested, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Now, my dark prison is all I know, but I gratefully accept the ball and chain… because this life will be a hell of a lot better than the world that I had come to know._

†

I scrambled around my cluttered room, throwing a thick sweater on over my t-shirt and snatching my car keys off of my mahogany dresser. I ran downstairs and buttered my toast with the speed of an athlete.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Snuffles," I said to my obese orange tabby, my lips curling into a slight smile as I saw his fat rolls jiggle as he waddled over to wish me good luck at school today. The cat meowed and rubbed against my legs. I paused in buttering my toast and sat down to give him a kiss.

"Don't worry, little guy," I said, petting his chubby fat. "I'll make it through another day." Then I was out the door, careful to lock it behind me on my way out.

The drive to school was the same as always: boring, tiresome, and monotonous. I blasted my music, belted the lyrics to my favorite songs with the singer, and ate my toast. It was all very exciting.

I pulled into the school parking lot, parked my car, and grabbed my backpack out before locking it. _Just another day at school,_ I told myself. _You'll be fine. Same as always._

I grumbled and stumbled my way through the front doors, up the winding stairs, and into the second floor bathroom where I knew my friends would be waiting for me. I was right, as the slate-hair-colored and ever-cool Zexion was leaning against the wall, and Demyx (who supported a blond mullet, bravely done I thought) sat on the floor, crouched toward the wall and covering it with his wonderful sharpie graffiti, which he so frequently does.

"Yo," I dropped my backpack on the floor and say on the edge of a sink. "Where's Marluxia?" Zexion shrugged.

"Hey, Axel," Demyx said excitedly (as always, honestly I think this guy is never sad), taking a break in scribbling his masterpiece to come over and give me a short hug. "Do you wanna know what Zexion did yesterday?" He waggled his eyebrows and smirked at me. Demyx and Zexion were best friends (based on the way they act toward each other, maybe even more than that), and have been since middle school. I gave him a skeptical look by raising my red brow and pursing my lips.

Zexion scoffed and picked at stray stings on his jeans, which is what he usually did when he was embarrassed.

"He tried weed!" Demyx exclaimed, almost jumping up and down with a huge smile on his face. His aerosol-tainted hairstyle bounced on his head along with his frantic movements. "Do you know how long I've been longing for him to try it?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I remember." I turned to Zexion. "How was it?"

"Well, he coughed a lot, and it didn't really have any effect on him," Demyx said, grinning.

"Dude, I didn't ask you," I smirked, "I asked 'O Silent One' over there."

"Well I was with him!" Demyx scoffed. He moped and sat down to draw on the walls again as Zexion suddenly became fascinated with picking lint off his clothes.

I rolled my eyes as the warning bell rung, signaling the students to hurry to their first class. I jumped off the sink and swung my backpack off of the floor and onto my shoulders, struggling under the weight of my school books and other various items.

"Alright, catch you guys at lunch," I said, heading out the door.

While I was walking away, I heard Demyx laugh at something Zexion said. I've always thought that Demyx was a... catalyst, I guess... for Zexion, always bringing out words and emotions hidden in the recesses of his mind. Maybe that's why they work so well together, kinda like peanut butter and potato chips on bread. Yum.

I made my way through the hallways to my first class, slumping down in my seat when I arrived. Ergh, I _really_ hate school. I mean, a passionate loathing for it.

In the third grade when my dad left me and Mom to move to God-Knows-Where, I slowly morphed from an excellent student who always turned their work in on time to a failing one, and have been deemed with that title ever since. My dad's departure took a _huge_ toll on our family. My mom began to drink every day after shecame home from her dull job in a paper factory, getting so drunk that she would smack me around until she fell asleep. I was miserable almost every single day.

She feels pretty horrible about how she treated me for years, so she tries to make up lost time and hard feelings by giving me a supply of gifts and other items she finds at cheap garage sales. Her actions are thoughtful, but it doesn't erase the memories.

One particularly bad time she came home, already drunk, and tied me to the headboard of her bed. She stuck something in me, saying "this is how your bastard father took me my first time!" It was super painful… I bled, and she cried. She only did this once, but once was too many times. I was in sixth grade at the time. I barely spoke to her after that, for good reason. She stopped coming home drunk every day after that, but she also stopped caring about me and everything I did. In junior high, I was part of the boys' soccer team, and I had to hitch rides with others every single day, and I never saw her face in the crowds during a game. She didn't give a shit about my future either.

If I ever see Dad's face again, I'm going to punch it in; it was because of him that mom went bonkers.

I ended up passing ninth grade with straight C's, tenth with D's, and failed eleventh the first time I took it. Now I'm in senior year, a year older than my colleges. I met my three best friends in my tenth grade year when they were freshmen and I was a sophomore.

I slept through my first and second periods, as always. I barely paid attention to the teacher during third and forth.

Before I knew it, the time for lunch had rolled around. My favorite part of the day. When I sat down at our usual lunch table, I pulled out my sketchbook and continued my sketch of a park near my house. As I was defining lines and adding small detail, Marluxia sat down across from me.

"Hey, Axel," he greeted. I glanced up. Marluxia, luscious pink hair and all, was grinning while chewing on a stick of beef jerky, a staple food for him at lunch time.

"Yo, Marly," I answered, "where were you this morning?"

Marluxia laughed. "You probably don't want to know."

I rolled my eyes. "Who did you bang this time and didn't want to leave in the morning?" I asked.

"I actually don't know," Marluxia looked sheepishly at the floor, "I met her at the Curly Q last night, and… you're right. We just kinda lost track of time this morning." He played with his food a little bit before saying: "all I remember is her blonde hair… heheheh, I was pretty drunk. But anyway, I was late this morning cause of that." He flashed me a cocky grin, which I returned, but along with shaking my head. Oh, Marly, you'll never change.

Demyx and Zexion sat at our table, talking. Well, okay, _Demyx_ was talking, as always with the two of them.

"And then she told me to stick my boot in there! Honestly, the nerve of some people," Demyx shook his head. "Oh, hey guys! Where were you Marly?"

"He was bangin' some bitch," I responded.

While the other three talked about last night, I took out my sketchbook again. While I was defining my lines, I saw a head of brown hair bob by, and my heart sped up to a pace some doctors would consider dangerous. Peering over the top of my book, I glanced at the back of his head and trailed my eyes down to his cute butt. He had dark jeans on today and a light t-shirt. He was walking with his friends. I never learned their names. Oh, he was so adorable! I just wanted to pinch his cheeks… both his front and back ones.

However, Sora was straighter than a ruler, had a billion friends, and enough money to buy a couple Ferraris. Someone like Sora would never go out with lil' ol' delinquent Axel with three friends, almost-failing grades, and 'strange' clothing. But I was allowed to have dreams, right?

I craned my neck to see him walk outside of the lunchroom and sighed dejectedly. Yeah, he'd never go for me.

Marluxia's voice broke me out of my reverie, "so do you wanna come with us, Axel?"

I stared at him with a blank expression.

"To Ginko's?" He asked. Right, that awesome coffee shop close to Demyx's.

I blinked and combed my fingers through my hair. "Oh, yeah, of course," I said, "I'll meet you guys there, though. I gotta stop by my house beforehand, I should check on my mom." Which was more or less true. She did need care, because she stopped caring about her health recently, so I had to make sure she ate tonight. I also needed to take care of a couple other things (boring stuff, like feeding my cat).

"You should really stop, Axel," Demyx said, voice laced with a serious tone. "She never cared for you."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, I still love her, no matter what she's done for me." I twirled my pencil around in my fingers absent-mindedly. Demyx let the matter drop.

The rest of lunch passed quickly: Zexion ate his lunch and stole food off of Demyx's plate because he was giving a lecture to Marluxia about STD's, to which Marluxia was just nodding and pretending to listen as he ate the rest of his food.

Fifth period was much too boring, and I fell asleep during sixth again. I woke up to sirens blaring outside. I grumbled. There was ten more minutes in class, and some stupid firefighters just HAD to wake me up. I laid my head back down on my desk to catch some more shut-eye when I heard another emergency vehicle's siren go off. After that, another. Some stupid classmate giggled and made a comment about it.

Huh, wonder what's up. I made a mental note to look at the local news on the internet at home before heading over to Ginko's.

The bell rung, so I left the school along with the many other students trying to get away from this place and back to their lives. I strolled through the parking lot to my car, stepping in a puddle and soaking my shoes. Great.

I got in the car and began to head home. I blasted my music and decided to take side roads today, because I don't want to drive on the highway. It looks like there's a hold-up there.

"Oh baby don't you know I suffer? Oh baby can you hear me mooooan?" I sang along with my playlist. Good ol' alternative rock songs always do the trick. I was going down Jefferson Street and minding my own business when I hear sirens behind me, so I pull over. A police car speeds by, so close that he almost clips my side mirror. Geez, what's with him?

As I continue down Jefferson, I see a woman getting… attacked… by another ahead of me and to the right. No car in front of me is stopping to pull them apart.

"Oh my gosh," I said, and parked the car on the side of the road, bumping along the side of the curb in my hurry. I leapt out and ran down the sidewalk. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" I yelled toward their direction.

The attacker didn't respond, and grabbed for the other woman's throat, growling. I stared at them with a confused look on my face, and the woman was screaming and squirming to get out of the other's grasp. I was running toward the pair when the first woman tripped on the curb and fell on her butt in the road. The second (what was her problem anyway?) now had an advantage, and leapt into the road. They wrestled like dogs, writhing on the ground before one sank her teeth into the other's shoulder.

Wait a second, did she just _bite_ her?

I froze about twenty feet away from them, my eyes wide in shock. I've seen fights before, no big deal, but I've never seen one where the competitors get this vicious. The attacker tore the first woman's flesh from her skin with her teeth, letting out a feral snarl as she did so. Blood poured from her wound, splattering the pavement. She let out a hair-raising scream as the attacker took another bite out of her.

My stomach curled in on itself and I retched violently near the curb of the street. While I was hurling, the woman's screams died down to a gurgle, and then to silence; no noise was heard except for snarling from the attacker. I whirled around to confront her.

"What the FUCK is your problem?!" I yelled.

The woman, who had her fingers in the corpse's stomach, turned to look up at me with blood running down her snarling face. When her eyes met mine, a shiver racked my body. Her glossy eyes were a steely, unnatural grey. Bloodied, matted hair framed her pale face, and half of her jaw was brutally torn off and other parts of her skin and bone were hanging by threads. Her clothes were blood-splattered on the front... at least what was left of them. Her sweater was in shreds, as if something with claws had raked across her chest. She growled, pausing in her mauling of the woman to turn completely in my direction, her fingers embedded in and still ripping at the other's stomach.

I was frozen in shock as I stared at her vacant eyes and savage expression. _What the hell? What the hell is going on?_ My stomach lurched uncomfortably again as we stared at each other. That didn't last long, however, as she stood up, blood running over her hands and splattered across her torso. She moaned and began shuffling toward me.

I don't think that I've ran faster in my life. I sprinted back to my car, got in, and drove off as quickly as possible, almost hitting the other curb. My eyes wide, I glanced in the rear-view mirror at the… could I even call her a lady? What the hell was that? Shit, she looked exactly like a…

Zombie. Wait, zombie? Zombies were fictional beings. I mean, what kind of disease lets you live while being dead? The concept was absolutely ridiculous. It _must _have been hallucination. There's no way in hell that that was real.

But what about the woman, was she okay? I got out my cell and dialed 911, but was met with a busy tone. I called again, only to be met with the same response. Was the 911 number even supposed to be busy?

I decided to let someone else call, and I needed to get home as soon as possible so I can scrub my brain with a bar of soap. I laughed. _All right, Axel, no more zombie movies for you. Ever._

I kept driving along, playing my music to calm me down a bit. I was obviously terrified. My hands shook and shivered in anticipation, and my stomach felt heavy in fear. When I turned onto Rose, again I was met with another sight of one of… them… eating someone in the middle of the street.

I screamed, and pressed on the gas, not caring where I was going; all I wanted was to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. I bumped along the curb trying to get away as another police siren began to blare, but I didn't even pull over. I just ignored it and sped toward home.

Oh my God, is Mom okay? A bitter feeling surrounded me and made my red hair stand on end. My heart pounded its way into my throat, and adrenaline rushed through my veins.

Was this actually happening? I'm so confused and have so many questions… and now, I'm realizing that this situation wasn't something to take lightly.

I checked my surroundings and sped up even quicker. Cars sped by me on my left. They _must_ be getting out of town and away from this mess. Unfortunately, each person had the same idea. Roads started to become heavily crowded. I stepped on the accelerator, and when I hit seventy miles an hour, I was hyperventilating. People screaming and running in the streets, more police cars, and several sightings of attacks met me on my way home. Cars everywhere. When I finally arrived, I burst through the door.

"MOM! WHERE ARE YOU?!" I screamed.

I wasn't met with a response, so I bolted up the stairs calling for her. I checked her room. Not there. Checked the bathroom. Nope. Hell, I even looked in her closet. She was nowhere to be found. I whipped out my cell and dialed her number.

_RING. RING. RING. RING. RING. RING. Hello, it's Jenny, please leave your name and n—_

I hung up and shrieked. Holy shit, what am I going to do now? After calling her again and giving up, I decided I needed to do something. What that was, I don't exactly know. From watching enough zombie movies, I realized I needed a weapon, and needed to stock up on food and maybe even gas. I would have to worry about my mom later.

I rummaged through my cupboards, throwing anything that was a non-perishable food item into a paper bag until it was stuffed with food. After running out to the car with the bag and stuffing it in the truck, I walked back inside.

What was I going to get for a weapon? The only thing I could think of was a butter knife. My mom never cooked, so we don't have any kitchen knives. Well, I was plump out of ideas. We didn't have shit. I even looked around for Mr. Snuffles, but even he was nowhere to be found. This sucks.

The screaming voices, sound of bullets, and shouting outside made my heart beat quicker and fear creep through my body. I ran my fingers through crimson hair, sighed, and took a huge breath. As if to calm my racing heart, I held my hand to my chest and pushed. _Breathe, Axel,_ I thought. _In through the nose, out through the mouth. In, out. In, out. In, out. _My aunt taught my this breathing exercise to me when I was a kid, and now I always use it when I was distressed... as I so obviously was currently.

I didn't want to die. How was I going to survive, anyway? A high school boy without any life skills and failing grades, going out into the real world had no chance at all. The only survival skills I know is how to build a basic fire, consideration of the Boy Scout troop I was a part of in second grade. Plus, i guess I could run kinda fast. Plus, I wasn't even going out into the real world, I was going into the real world _with zombies_. There's a _huge_ difference.

My fluttering heart lurched with my stomach when I thought about living in a world portrayed in zombie movies, and it dropped to the floor when I thought about dying via zombie. A tear rolled down my cheek as I envisioned my loved ones torn up and eaten, or even worse: torn up, eaten, alive, and coming for my throat. I would have no one. Not my mom, not my friends… no one.

Hold up… my friends! They might be at Ginko's, or at their houses, alive! At least I have to see if they were still there. I trailed my fingers over the kitchen countertop and bent down to kiss it.

"You were a good house. See yah."

I scribbled a note to my mom and stuck it to the fridge just in case she came back and was looking for me. I ran out the door with fate at my heels.

* * *

**AN: Oui, oui, that is it. If you want more, plz say so. If you think it sucks, go ahead and leave a review. Whatever you want. I'll probably continute anyway.**

**-Your humble servant,**

** MaddeThee**


	2. Chapter 2: Someone Anyone

**AN: Some sarcasm and irony hiding amongst the rams batting heads. Beware the writing. That is all. Enjoy ;) **

**AN2: I don't own so plz don't sue me. [Uses my infinite wit and charm to write a clever disclaimer in order to persuade you to read].**

* * *

I drove around, visiting my friends' houses, but was met with emptiness… they didn't answer when I consistently rang their doorbells. Ah, I'd have to see if they were at the coffee house, which is where I was meeting them. Otherwise, I'd be stuck by myself.

The drive to Ginko's was completely chaotic. People were madly dashing everywhere, cars were crashed at every turn, and I almost ran over a couple people in my rush to get there. I was surprised that I got there as soon as I did, considering the circumstances. Parking the car in the street near the coffee house, I ran the extra block there.

Hey, I guess my running ability could come in handy later.

Reaching the door and yanking it open, panting, I was hoping whole-heartedly that at least one of my friends were in here.

"…Hello…?" I called out, glancing around, "anyone here?"

One of the windows was shattered in on the opposite wall, and small shards of glass littered the ground.

The ceiling bulbs were inoperative so I had to squint in the dim lighting coming from outside. Each table was empty, albeit some with shiny white porcelain tableware. One of the tables in the back corner was tipped over, and white shards littered the ground around that area.

I stepped forward. "Demyx? Zexion? Marluxia?" I heard a crunching sound. Damn it, I stepped on a broken coffee cup.

"Anybody?" I waited, but was met with silence.

I wiped my sweaty hands along the leg of my jeans.

Well, shit. This was a lost cause! What the hell was I thinking? Yes, Axel, the world is falling apart and your friends are waiting at a coffee shop for you. You brilliant, brilliant man. I could've smacked myself, but shit, I didn't want to be alone in this mess.

I dialed Demyx, no response. Zexion, same thing. When I called Marluxia, I got a busy signal. They probably left their phones somewhere in a rush to get out of this mess.

Another tear ran down my cheek as I knelt on the floor. "Please… someone… anyone," I cried, "I don't want to be alone! PLEASE don't let me be alone!"

I collapsed on the floor, chest meeting with my thighs as I wrapped my arms around them. Sobs racked my chest, but no tears stained my cheeks.

I pressed my palms against the shiny wood of the floor and heaved at the knowledge that nothing was going to be the same again. Life as I knew it was going to change in ways that I wasn't ready for, my life had barely started for fuck's sake! I stared at the wood and stroked it longingly, remembering the texture. I sighed and took another shuddering breath.

I know what I should do. I have to leave and drive to my aunt's cabin up north… to get away from the city. The farther away from civilization, the better off you'd be; at least that's what I've learned in zombie movies.

I heard a growling noise behind me. My head shot up and my eyes widened.

_Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap_. I clumsily leaped up and to turned around to face a walking dead man, eyes trained on my body. He had an apron tied around his waist, suggesting that he probably worked here.

Euugh, this is like a living nightmare!

I hastily bolted away from him, panting, and traipsed toward the door as quick as my legs would take me. I think I moved a little too fast and tripped over someone's purse, which was left on the floor, and fell on my rump. Heart beating wildly, I scrambled up and made a startled noise as I saw the zombie stagger closer to me, arms outstretched and grasping for me. I sprinted out the door and to my car.

†

I knew that getting out of the city was going to be treacherous, but I had no idea how many people had the same motives as me. The traffic was horrendous, and each car was barely moving on the highway. I tried to catch a glimpse of what was ahead, but I couldn't see anything at all over the extensive row of cars. Horns blared as people got impatient, and many shouts echoed across the tar.

"Move it!"

"I got two kids with me!"

"Let's go!"

Looking up the hill, I saw a couple dead guys walking down, attracted by the rowdy noise. They reached cars ahead of me and began to pound on their car's glass windows.

I felt sick to my stomach again as they scratched and moaned, trying to devour the warmth inside. Obviously, this situation was getting nowhere, and I was terrified they might wander over to my car next.

I swerved to the right and exited the highway. Alright, side roads would have to do.

I drove on until I met up with crashed cars blocking my path. Crap. I was putting my car into reverse when I saw something to my right. A man was trying to defend himself against three of those ― things ― with a… stick?

I rolled down my window.

"Yo!" I yelled, "need any help?!"

The man swirled around, saw the car, and dashed down the alleyway, barely missing grabbing fingers as the creeps reached out to grab him. As he got closer, I saw ― was that silver hair? ― that his 'stick' was actually a brass fireplace poker. He was sprinting toward my car, feet thwacking on pavement. I reached over the passenger seat and opened the door for him to climb inside. As he was running toward me, I got a good look at him.

And whoo, baby, he sure was hot. I mean _smokin_'. He had a tight t-shirt on that outlined his muscles, a hoodie tied around his waist, and a black beanie over his lilac locks. He certainly was a looker.

He climbed in the passenger door and slammed it behind him while I was staring. He blinked at me.

"Well are you going to go? Or do you want to be eaten by them, just like they ate my parents?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. They ate his parents? I was flabbergasted, but I still managed to turn the car around. As we sped off in the opposite direction, I couldn't help but glance over at him every so often.

"Wait a sec, you said they killed your parents," I said disbelievingly, "and yet you seem fine." I heard him sigh and drum his fingers on the top of the glove compartment.

"Foster parents," was his reply, "only had 'em for a week."

"Ah. What's your name, then?"

"Riku." I felt him turn toward me. "You?"

I smirked. "Axel." I began heading in the direction of my aunt's house again, trying to calculate how I could get there by taking different side roads. "So you doin' okay, even though your parents are dead? What even happened anyway?"

"Well you saw the wreck," Riku sighed. His voice was soft and melodic… it almost sounded as if he was an actor or something. Ergh Axel, calm down, we don't need you flocking to every fuckable guy out there like horses to hay. I snapped back to reality just as Riku added: "I don't wanna talk about it." I furrowed my once relaxed eyebrows again.

"Huh. You alone now?" I asked. I felt his eyes on me, but like the good driver I am, I paid more attention to the road and tried not to run over anybody.

"Because I obviously have family," he retorted, "and I just moved here so it's not like I have my own posse or something like that."

"I meant like, a distant cousin. No one you can talk to?" He laughed sardonically.

"Nope, not even a pet."

"Well I'm all alone," I grinned. "My mom was already gone when I got home, and no answer on her cell phone. My friend's houses were all empty, so I'm assuming that everyone forgot about me and left me behind. How about tagging along with me? I could always use someone to talk to." Riku paused to think.

"Where're you headed?" He asked.

"My aunt owns a cabin about an hour up north," I said, "and she has a nice one that's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. She even has ― SHIT!"

I almost hit a man screaming and running across the street in a panic, but swerved over to the left, missing him.

I began to roll down my window and ask if he needed help, but Riku grabbed my arm… hard. I turned to face him. He shook his head with burning eyes. "Dude, we have to see if he's okay," I said. "I did the same to you."

"Nuh-uh we don't… 'Dude'," he said, mocking me. "All we gotta do is worry about our own asses." His aquamarine eyes bore into my devilish green ones. I stared back sourly. "Keep. Driving."

"I helped your ungrateful butt, didn't I?" I glared at Riku. "Why can't I help him?" I turned away from his gaze to look out the window at the guy, but he was gone. When I swung around to face Riku again; his lips were pulled into a tight line, mocking me. _I told you so,_ his face seemed to say.

"See, now he's gone, and took a minute of precious time along with it. We gotta go, and your aunt's house'll have to do," he said.

I scowled and drove away from the scene. I was beginning to like this guy's attitude less and less. Cocky personalities were never very charming in my book.

We drove on for a while in silence, which I was almost grateful for.

"How old are you anyway?" Riku asked, "twenty-four? Five?"

"Nah, nineteen," I chuckled. My high cheek bones always made me look older than I was.

"I'm seventeen," he said.

"Ah."

Silence. Riku coughed.

"I'll put on the radio," he said, tinkering with the knobs on my stereo. "This station always plays good local music." He turned the volume up. "Plus, I could use the breather."

_―ency broadcast. Listeners, head over to the Minnesota State Capitol immediately, help is waiting. I repeat, this is an emergency broadcast. Listeners ―_

Riku switched the station, but the same recording was playing, so he shut it off.

"Should we go?" I asked.

"I dunno."

"All I know is that we should get out of here," I said as I stopped the car abruptly. In front of our car was a flaming semi, tipped on its side and dented inward in several places. "Damn it!" I whipped the car around yet again to head back in the opposite direction. "I have no idea where the State Capitol is from here!" I yelled.

"I'll look it up," Riku said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him pull out a phone and begin to type away. After a minute of driving, he gave me directions.

"Hey, actually that's not that far from where we are," I said. "Something like a thirty minute drive."

"Let's go."

†

Getting into downtown was completely chaotic.

The streets were flooded with running people, cars, and emergency vehicles. The screaming was deafening even with my car windows rolled up.

Riku and I looked on, shocked as people began running out of their cars and dashing around in sheer distress.

I peered over to my left, as every car ahead of my own was stopped, and a zombie on the ground was eating something near a totaled car.

"Okay, we gotta walk," Riku said, opening his door.

"Ah hell no, I ain't goin' out there," I snorted, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Yes… you are," Riku demanded and walked over to my door. He yanked it open and glared at me while I say there, staring ahead of me at the ensuing chaos. He reached over my lap and unbuckled my seatbelt. I gave him a piercing look. "Now don't get excited," he said with a straight face as he leaned over my legs.

I shoved him off. "I don't need your help, dumbass," I barked.

I mean, he was hot and all, but he was not my type. I can't even think about doing him anymore, especially… in this situation! Seriously, why the hell am I even thinking about banging someone in the middle of a crisis? What is wrong with me?

I got out of the car and faced Riku.

"What do you think I should do about the stuff I have?" I dragged him to my trunk and popped it open, revealing the three paper bags I'd gathered earlier. He pursed his lips in thought.

"Bring _one_," he said, "just in case."

I nodded in acknowledgement and snatched the one I thought was lightest, which meant it was easier to carry. Turning around, I noticed another zombie shuffling after a little girl. Riku, who was leaning against the back of the car, saw as well.

"No, Axel, you can't ―"

"The hell I can't," I interrupted.

After seeing a small, helpless little girl, my previous fear dissolved, and I felt an unbearable urge to save her. My motto definitely wasn't 'every man for himself.'

I dumped the bag into the trunk and grabbed Riku's fire poker that was lying on the passenger side's floor. Hearing the girl scream, I flew out of the car and toward the pair.

The zombie was growling and reaching out to catch hold of her. I dashed forward and, with a yell, stabbed the zombie straight through the arm and stomach with the fire poker… its skin and ribs were easier to pierce than I thought. His dark blood splattered across my t-shirt and along my right arm.

A wave of rotting meat and dead flesh hit my nostrils. I cringed in revulsion and flared my nostrils. Disgusting.

The zombie, arm pinned to its stomach, turned toward me and snarled near my face. My eyes widened. Don't tell me they actually have to be killed by damaging their brain. Ergh.

In an effort to tug out the poker, I planted my booted foot on his side and kicked him away from me, in turn pulling the weapon out. It made a gargled noise and spun to face me. The young girl on the ground squealed again, but I ran forward and drove the fire poker straight through the middle of his forehead.

The monster's speech ceased and he slumped backward, knees bending at an awkward angle.

Sighing with relief, I pulled out the weapon and was met with less resistance than before. My hands shook in horror and I dropped it. The smell of the blood on my arm stunk, and I touched it with shuddering fingers. It was thick, gooier than a human's blood. I wiped my hand on my jeans and peeked over to the girl who was trembling on the ground, curled in a ball.

"You okay?" I asked, seeing her frightened face. Tears began to fall over her face, but she nodded nonetheless.

Riku came up behind me and clapped my shoulder.

"Good job. We should go though, Axel," he said.

"Hold up," I replied, and knelt down next to the girl on the ground. "Where are your parents?"

She just wailed at me, tears falling down her face. My expression faltered as I stared at her defenceless state.

"Do you know where they are?" Riku asked. The girl shook her head and continued to bawl. I glanced up at Riku. He tightened his lips into a line and nodded at me.

"We're going to get you to a safe place," I said, turning back to her and extending my hand. "I promise, you'll be safe there."

Her crying began to slow and she timidly grabbed my hand. I pulled her off of her butt and stood her on her feet, then hoisted her onto my back. She was light enough to carry without any trouble.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Marlene," came the quiet reply near the hollow of my ear. She was shaking even as I held her on my back.

"Well, Marlene, I'll take good care of you, kay?" I gave her a thumbs up near the top of my head so she could see.

"This is touching and all, but now we _really _have to go," Riku said, grabbing the fire poker that I dropped and beginning to run down the street among the stream of people. Forgetting the paper bag in the trunk, I followed after him with the weight of Marlene on my back.

"Follow me!" I heard him yell at me over the frantic cries of the people.

More and more people were being attacked on either side of us as we shoved our way through the crowd. _Three blocks._ The sound of shots being fired exploded behind us._ Two blocks._ A zombie lunged for Riku and Marlene screamed, but he hit him aside with his weapon and kept running. _One block._ My side ached and I huffed and puffed as I strained to keep Marlene from slipping off my back, while still keeping my brisk pace.

Finally, we reached the green lawns of the State Capitol. The area was guarded by several policemen, each armed with a shotgun. Two of them nodded their heads at us as we ran toward the front doors and up the concrete staircase.

The white marble dome towered over our heads as we approached the building, and the gold chariot statue reflected the mid-afternoon sun toward the top. It really was appealing.

We stumbled up the stairs, panting from the exertion of running.

After we got through the door, I dropped Marlene on the ground and sat down cross-legged near her. Riku stayed standing, and swung the fire poker over his shoulders (the blood was drying by now, thank goodness).

We looked around at the polished floors, massive marble pillars, and intricate stone designs lining the walls. It was a beautiful building, inside and out.

As we observed our surroundings, two people dressed in suits walked up to where we were collapsed on the ground.

One was a platinum blonde lady, bent bending awkwardly straight… probably in an attempt to look as professional as possible. The other was a man with sleeked, greasy hair and a thin nose. Both had a gun holster, each filled with a small caliber pistol.

"We're glad you made it," said the female. "Other survivors are in that room," she added, pointing in the direction of the door they came from.

I nodded my thanks, still attempting to catch my breath.

"We'll give you more information in a bit, but we have important matters to attend to," she said, glancing at her partner. "We'll talk to the group shortly."

With a nod from the man, the pair strolled off toward the front door.

We entered the room she mentioned. The room only had around twenty people in it; my eyes picked out a woman and child, a family of five with their baby, a couple, a group of men, and two women (each in a flamboyant dress). It was relatively quiet, except for the cries of the baby and the sobs of the children. Every adult held a somber face, and each parent was trying their best to calm down their children, although they were clearly shaken up themselves.

I led Riku and Marlene to an unoccupied corner of the room.

"I told you I'd get you here safe," I smiled bleakly at Marlene. She sniffled and looked at me with shining eyes.

"Thank you, sir," she whispered.

"The name's Axel, kiddo."

We spent an hour on the glossy floor, anticipatively waiting for an update or something consequently similar, listening to the wails of the children.

During that time, two more groups of rescued citizens came in: first, a small group who sat in the center of the room chattering, and second, a single woman.

Marlene stared with hope and huge eyes at the woman.

"Mommy?" she called, hope lacing her words.

Her mother turned to face us and saw her daughter's face. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened agape.

Marlene bolted toward her and buried her face into her mother's skirt, sobbing once more. The mother's face brightened as she bent down to hug her child against her chest as her tears began to fall. It was almost as if you could see the raw fear and desperation leave her body.

"My baby, my baby Marly," she wailed.

I gave a small smile in their direction.

"At least someone's found their family," I sighed. Riku's hand grasped my shoulder and squeezed.

It was then that the two people who greeted us earlier came through the door, and coughed blatantly to get the group's attention.

"Hello, all," the woman's raised voiced said. "My name is Elena Whitman, and I'm representing the Board of Defense in Minnesota." She pointed to her partner. "And this is Jonathan Sheng, my assigned partner." She paused to take a deep breath.

"We've been told by the Secretary of Defense to relay to all survivors gathered in governmental facilities of our message. We are willing to provide safety for the people of Minnesota. We are equipped to handle a situation such as this, and are prepared to assist any other citizens that arrive here." She pushed her wire-thin glasses up the bridge of her nose and continued. "We've been told to tell each and every one of you to remain calm, and that we're to protect you at any cost."

She looked at the room at the surprisingly small amount of people huddled together.

"We will assess the situation with the assistance of the United States government," Jonathan said in a voice laced with a heavy accent.

"If you have any questions, we'll be patrolling the first floor of the building. The Department of the Air Force has instructions to send a helicopter to every state capitol in order to bring people to a safe location, whether it is a military base or another governmental building. They will be arriving shortly. Thank you," the woman ended.

They exited, and a whispered murmur broke out among the gathered people.

Marlene and her mother, holding hands, traipsed over and smiled bashfully at us.

"Thank you so much for caring for my little girl," she said admiringly. Marlene dropped her mom's hand and ran over to hug me and Riku respectively, then walked back to her mother again.

"No prob," I said.

As they walked away, Riku sighed. I grinned in his direction.

"See, helping people isn't bad," I said.

He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well," he said.

Riku dropped his poker on the ground with a clatter and sat down next to me.

"Where'd you find a thing like that anyway?" I asked, nodding toward his discarded weapon.

Riku shrugged.

"It was in the trunk," he said. "When those things attacked, it was the nearest thing I could grab." He picked absentmindedly at his fingernails. "And then you saved me, and I never thanked you for it. Thanks, Axel."

I stared at him. "You know, that is probably the first time you've said more than a sentence this whole time," I said jokingly, poking his arm.

"Shut up," he scowled.

We sat in silence together, mulling our thoughts around in our heads.

I thought about everything that was important to me. My mother, my friends, Mr. Snuffles, school (I mean, I hated it, but it is… _was_…a part of my everyday life), my sketchbook. What was going to happen to me? To us as a population? Everything important to me has been taken away, and every day was going to be different. But do you know what? I'm ready. Bring on the world.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading. The quicker you leave a review telling me how bad my writing is, the quicker Roxas will magically appear.**

**Ha, just kidding.**

**But I guess you can have one of these muffins I just baked. You were wondering how it tastes? Oh, have you had invisible-flavored ones before? **


	3. Chapter 3: Youth Without Youth

**AN: Hello, all. Enjoy chapter three :) if you feel like it, leave a review. If you don't, then don't. But thanks for reading anyway ;) **

* * *

Today is a very important day. Wanna know why? Well, it's my birthday. I'm turning twenty today.

Elena and Jonathan have a calendar, and have been keeping track of the days as they pass. A couple of days ago, they reminded me of my birthday. I almost could kiss them. But I wouldn't, cause that's gross.

Almost nine, long, agonizing months have passed since the first zombie outbreak. And boy, have we changed. Everyone changed.

Over the past nine months, Elena and Jonathan have been fantastic leaders: keeping people in control, organizing raids, and dividing our food rations. They made us feel more than safe. They made us feel like valuable parts of the group, and we had come to know each other as family. We have about sixty people in our group total, which is not a large amount considering that the radio broadcast reached out to cover around half of Minnesota. More people should have arrived. We all knew it.

At the beginning of our stay, we were in contact with the Department of Defense. They sent a helicopter to carry everyone to safety in the US Capitol, but could only fit Minnesotan Senate, House, and Congress members that were with us; Elena and Jonathan volunteered to stay behind until another one came for the rest. We kept trying to get a hold of them after that, but we are still waiting for a response to this day. Eventually, we just gave up.

"It's hopeless," Elena had said. "We're stuck here because some godforsaken bastards decided they were better than us." I had just stared at her. "Oh, I always hated working for them anyway. They're a bunch of pompous asses." My respect for her – for _them _- grew a lot that day. I realized that they were kind enough to stay behind and help a bunch of feeble citizens with no training in anything that would be of use, equipped with only a fleet of twenty policemen. They were the real heroes here, and we were thankful.

The system that our leaders have set up is superb, and each and every one of us is thankful for that.

After using wooden planks to board up every other door except for the main one, the police team of twenty was set up on watch constantly. We disagreed with this, and wanted to help relieve them of their duties. Over Elena's protests ("C'mon guys, that's their job!"), we decided to help them out by taking shifts. Usually around three or four people would watch the entrance.

The occasional raids kept food and ammo stocked, even if we lost people during them. We found a few supplies located across other floors in the Capitol, but not much. Because of the rations, carefully divided, no one went hungry. I couldn't think of a better situation to be in during an apocalypse.

I couldn't have a better companion than Riku. When one of us was chosen to help in a raid, we would refuse until they allowed both of us in the group. He always had my back, and I always had his. He was my best friend, and he was fantastic, even if he was relatively quiet.

Oh, but I'm making this life sound pleasant. The thing is… it isn't.

After months of gun and weapon training, courtesy of the police officers (whose numbers are slowly dwindling), it was decided that us citizens would help them out in raids. The more the merrier, right? Right.

During raids, Elena and Jonathan send out two policemen along with a couple citizens. On average, one or two die. If we're really lucky, they'll all make it. We've had a couple occasions where some will come back bitten and Jonathan had to take the liberty of putting them down.

A zombie bite spreads venom throughout your veins, slowly consuming your blood and turning it rotten. Your mind slowly begins to falter, and you hallucinate. Each pump of blood your heart sends through your body is sending you closer to death's waiting fingers. From what I've seen, it looks extremely painful and heart-wrenching for loved ones to watch their family die in front of them.

We have no form of entertainment to keep us busy, no hot water, no electricity. Although we were alive and together, it was difficult to stay happy. Medicine was scarce. If someone got a cold, we would cross our fingers and hope it didn't mutate for the worse.

Making it through the winter was tough. Minnesotan winters aren't something to laugh at. Although we had enough sleeping bags for everyone, most people slept close together, huddled and shivering from the cold. Without heaters, it was difficult to conduct any warmth in the building.

Another difficulty (and mind you, it's important) that I was met with during my stay at the Capitol was finding the time to… do certain business. I mean, I'm a guy, and I know other guys will relate. The place is huge, so there are plenty of opportunities to go off and… do your thing. But you never know when someone will be looking for you, or worried out where you've run off too. All of that repressed energy was not healthy for me or anyone else caught on the other end of my rants.

Before the world went to hell, I admit, I've never had sex. It's always been something that I've wanted to do, but haven't really gotten around to it. I was outgoing enough, it wasn't that. It's just that I was too intimidating, to the point where I had scared my partners away. The numerous girls and sometimes guys that I've set my sights on have been too terrified to begin anything with me. I think I might have touched a girl's boobs once. It was hard to think about that kind of stuff when you're in a situation such as mine though. But that doesn't mean that I didn't find every opportunity to take care of what needs to be done.

_At least the group is here. Together,_ I thought. _And that's all that matters._

It was early in the morning, and my sleeping bag wasn't keeping the late winter chill out. Since Riku and I sleep in one of the second floor conference rooms, it was slightly stuffier from where most of the others slept, but shit I was cold!

I arose from my sleeping bag and pulled on my dirty hoodie that I discarded on the floor last night.

"Maybe I shouldn't have stayed up so late," I whispered to myself. My head throbbed.

Stretching my sore arms back and out, I walked out of our room and up the winding staircase to the balcony I love looking out of. Although it was my birthday today, we were planning a raid into the city today. I was going, as well as Riku (as always, together).

I was grateful for the raids: not only was it a great way to blow off pent-up steam, but the sense of danger made me feel alive. Almost. It was a good reminder of what life was now, and I was thankful for it.

I reached the balcony, and stepped outside into the cold January air. There was only a little bit of snow this year, which was awesome. A light flurry was drifting down from the sky right now, snowflakes dancing with the chilly wind. Too bad zombies aren't affected by the cold. We certainly were.

Since the world began to go downhill, I've come to the terms with how fragile human life really is. Just a year ago, people were everywhere. I could walk down a street, and the hustle and bustle of city life would meet my senses. I could watch a city bus rumbling and hissing down the busy street, listen to the call of birds, inhale the strong smell of cigarette smoke wafting through the park, get annoyed by the honks of car horns and the wailing of little children who are looking at candy through a store window.

Now, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Silence. Desertion. Abandonment. We were all alone in the world, with nothing but silence to accompany us. Every time we step outside, we are met with only the sounds of our own breath.

It's funny. I used to complain about people. I used to hate them and the way they'd go about their business. The pollution, robberies, and overall selfishness of humanity always disgusted me to no end.

What I wouldn't give to get that back. Or to see my friends again. Or my mother. Or even watch my favorite movie again. I missed my music and my sketchbook most of all. Whenever I was in a desperate situation, music soothed my distress. When my mom was giving me shit and I felt like the world was crashing down around me, I would drive. Drive and listen to my music. Now that the world is almost literally crashing down around me, I don't have it.

My sketchbook was almost like a diary to me. I kept my thoughts, feelings, and emotions locked away in the marks of my pencil. Drawing was almost like breathing, it came naturally, and with need.

Although I began to hate her guts for what she did to me, I still took care of her every single day. She was my mother, after all, and I still love her. Everything that was important to me is gone.

Alas, those days are gone. Better to accept my life now as is.

I have something even more valuable to me now: a friend that I can rely on, and a group that will protect me no matter what. In the end, material items can only get a person so far. What are really meaningful are the relationships you create with others.

Breaking my sentimental train of thought, I glanced at my surroundings.

The light across the sky was gradually changing from a black hue to pastel reds and oranges. I always enjoyed a good sunrise. However, my ass was freezing. The wind blew a flurry of small snowflakes through my private balcony fortress, so I wrapped myself tighter in my hoodie, shivering.

I stared across the balcony railing and into the sky for what seemed like an hour. I was almost… peaceful. Then again, this world doesn't allow that.

A hand grabbed my shoulder.

I grabbed the switchblade I held under the waistband of my flannel pants and whipped around, prepared to stab.

"Woah, woah," Riku gaped, holding his hands up in an apologetic gesture.

"Dude, don't scare me like that," I breathed in relief. "I nearly shit my pants." I punched him lightly on the shoulder, heart pounding like a rabbit's.

He just gave me a small smirk and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Happy birthday, Ax," he said, clapping my back in what I thought was a friendly gesture. Sure, it hurt like hell, but it was Riku. And he could've only meant well.

"Thanks, man," I replied, squeezing him with returned force. "I guess even you can be nice and civil sometimes."

He pulled away, glaring at me in mock seriousness. "You ready to go?" he asked, staring into my eyes. "The others are waiting."

I turned away from his gaze to the sky. Wow. It was becoming grey out along the expanse of the sky, almost all traces of sunrise gone. I really was up here for a long time.

I pivoted toward Riku again.

"Alright, let's head out. Don't wanna make those pansies wait any longer." I began to shuffle through the balcony's entranceway when he grabbed my arm yet again.

"Wait, I have something for you," he said, reaching into his coat pocket. What he pulled out was a black sketchbook, the size of a planner. "I remember you talking about how much you missed drawing," he said, waggling his eyebrows slightly.

I gaped at him.

"I picked it up on our last trip into town," he said.

I eagerly snatched it out of his outstretched arms.

"Thanks, Riku," I mused, holding the book tightly to my chest. He could be such a jewel sometimes. However, he can't compare to me. But then again, who could? I was pretty dazzling.

†

"You pansies ready to go?" I asked, pushing fresh bullets into my gun and pocketing more in my chest pocket of my flannel shirt for when I needed a reload.

"Even though it's your birthday, Axel," began Kairi, a sarcastic girl around my age who seemed to have it in for me. "That doesn't give you the right to be a dick."

I rolled my eyes in her direction. "Yeah, but at least I'm not a pansy."

"Bullshit. I saved your weak ass last time," she grinned smugly. "Or did you forget?"

"Nah, I remember Kay-ree," I drawled out her name in an attempt to annoy her. "But then again, so have I."

She absentmindedly picked at her fingernail and snorted.

"I've lost count," she replied.

"Yeah, it's hard to keep track," I sighed, standing up and stashing my gun in the back of my jeans. I glanced over at Naminé, who was sharpening her axe against a smooth stone.

Sensing my gaze, she looked at me and then turned back to her sharpening.

"Kairi?" she asked.

"Yeah, hon?" Kairi pulled out a rubber band from her jean pocket and used it to tie her deep magenta hair back into a ponytail.

"If I get bit, will you shoot me?" Naminé questioned, continuing about her business.

Kairi's face paled as she kneeled down to face her.

"Don't talk like that." The seriousness in her voice made my stomach drop. Nothing was scarier than a serious Kairi. She grasped Naminé's shoulder and stared into her face with an expression that was hard to read. "Really, Nam. I don't wanna hear it, alright?"

Naminé paused in her sharpening to look calmly into Kairi's eyes.

"Okay." She gave Kairi a small, saddened smile.

Just then, Riku walked in, grasping his fire poker in his left hand.

"Ready?" he asked, glancing around at the three of us.

"Hell yeah," I smirked. "Let's go kick some zombie ass."

Kairi rolled her eyes, but got up nonetheless.

Our small group head into the main entranceway. Once we arrived, Jonathan was waiting for us with our needed supplies for the trip. He gave Riku a backpack we already knew contained a flare, lock-picking supplies, and some extra ammo. He gave the rest of us an empty backpack to store needed supplies in.

"If anything, find medicine. The flu seems to be quite popular this year," Jonathan said. Next, he handed each of us a flashlight. "But don't go to the hospital. Last we tried to go there, it was overflowing with biters. Oh, and some more batteries would be nice as well. Same with blankets," he added. "Get some more of those, if you can."

He looked at all of us individually, hard stare meeting each of our eyes.

"Other than that, get the regular stuff." He stood up straighter. "Good luck," he said, giving us each grim smiles.

I gave him a half-assed salute in return.

"Stop being a dumbass," Kairi griped as she stalked toward the main door, Naminé scuttling at her heels.

I gawked at her back.

"It's my birthday, you bitch!" I yelled at her retreating form. She just waved over her shoulder.

"Grahhh, she's irritating," I growled to Riku. He just gave me a small smirk and shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, yanking me along with him as he followed the two girls.

At the entranceway, each of us grabbed a jacket out of the monstrous pile of them in various sizes.

Now wrapped in our winter wear and equipped with our gear, we were more than ready to head out. The policemen were already waiting for us outside, carrying a rifle each.

As we walked up to them, the brunet waved at us, but the blond stayed impassive.

"What are your names?" he asked.

As we told him our names, respectively, he nodded at each one.

"Okay; Riku, Kairi, Naminé, and Axel… you ready to take on the city?"

The blond sighed exasperatingly and glared at his partner.

"Leon, would you stop being so cheerful? You're making my eyes twitch."

The brown-haired man called Leon scowled.

"I don't see the problem," he replied. "I'm just being nice."

The blond shook his head and began walking away.

Leon just sighed. "I'm Leon, and grumpy-pants over there is Cloud."

"Nice to meet you," Kairi grinned flirtatiously.

"Alright," Leon said, ignoring her sexual advances, "let's follow Cloud."

I grinned after I noticed the dejected expression on her face. Hah.

We followed him off the lawns dusted with white and into the city street.

It was silent, as always. When has it been different?

The street and pavement all around us was covered with a thin layer of snow, as well as the trees and deserted cars littered along our path. One of the most difficult things about searching the city for supplies was the amount of cars blocking our path. I mean, those things were everywhere. And not just on the street.

"I thought we could try near the Science Museum this time," Cloud said from up ahead. "We haven't searched that area yet."

I nodded, trying to keep up with the two policemen who were quickly striding in front of us. Thankfully, no zombies were in sight so far. It was completely empty.

"Wait a second," Kairi said. "Isn't that on the opposite side of the city?"

"Kinda…" Leon said, keeping his brisk pace, but turning his head slightly to call out to us. Kairi just groaned and kept walking.

After two blocks of roaming, we reached 10th street. On our left was a restaurant we raided a while back. As I squinted and looked on, and what I saw was a mass of zombies (I mean a _mass_) only two blocks or so ahead of us.

"You guys see that?" Riku whispered.

Our group huddled closer together and stopped.

"Well, shit," Leon swore under his breath.

"A little detour would be nice," I said, my heart beginning to pound.

So instead of heading straight toward the horde of zombies, we took a right at the nearest street and head down there instead. In front of us, a couple zombies were munching on something on the ground in a group of about ten or eleven.

Leon put a finger to his lips, and motioned for us to crouch on the ground, behind an overturned truck. As we cowered behind the safety of the car, we put our heads together. Action time.

"Alright, we can't use bullets just yet. It will probably call over the horde," he whispered. We all nodded, and pulled out our personal melee weapons. Cloud pulled out a katana sword. Where he got that, I have no idea.

"No yelling, Axel," Kairi muttered.

I chose to ignore that.

"Alright," Leon said, "3… 2… 1…"

We leapt from behind the car and charged toward the munching zombies. When they heard the noise of running footsteps, the group looked up and growled collectively. They got up and began to move toward us. Since I was the fastest runner, I ran toward the left side of the zombies, brandishing my own knife. I dashed forward and stabbed the first one through the middle of the forehead, careful to hold my hands high and not to let my arm near its mouth.

Its blood spurted from its head and it fell to the side, no longer in control of its body. When I pulled the knife out, a squirting noise was heard from the zombie, and more red blood oozed from the wound. I still wasn't used to how nasty the killing could be.

I heard slashes and spattering noises around me as my friends hacked the rest of the group up. When I looked to the left of our scene, and saw another group of zombies coming out of a building.

"More of them at ten o' clock!" I cried out in warning.

I stabbed the first one through his forehead, but another grabbed for me at the same time. _Shit,_ I thought as the zombie girl grasped my arm. We went tumbling to the ground. Her gaping mouth was growling as she was leaning on me, trying to chomp on me. I held her back with my forearms, holding her weight up. I grunted from the strain, and tried to not breathe in, as her breath smelled like a rotting carcass.

My stabbing arm was being used to keep her off of me, so I couldn't get a chance to pierce her.

Thankfully, Riku saw me wrestling with her and punctured through her head with his fire poker. As she stopped writhing, I was finally able to throw her off successfully.

"Thanks, man," I breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at me impassively.

"No problem," he responded, turning around to stab another.

Damn, he was good. I got up and stabbed a lone head on the ground, whose teeth were still clacking. Someone must've just sliced the head straight off the body.

Looking around, I saw who that was. Cloud, brandishing the sword, was hacking off heads like there was no tomorrow, finishing off the rest of them for us.

As the last zombie died, we breathed heavily and caught our breath.

"Of course, Axel had to get saved, yet again," Kairi smirked, panting.

I just flared my nostrils at her and glared.

"Stop, Kairi," Riku coughed. I glanced at him thankfully.

"Ready to go?" Leon asked, after a minute of collecting ourselves had passed.

We just nodded. We had to be.

Our group headed off in the direction of the Science Museum.

* * *

**AN2: I KNOW I'M HORRIBLE! But I PROMISE that Roxas will be in the next Chapter. PROMISE. **

**MaddeThee, out. *backflips away***


	4. Chapter 4: London Bridge

**AN: Hey yo yo. This chapter was actually quite fun for me to write :) Enjoy the zombie-filled fun. **

* * *

On our way to the Museum, we encountered more zombies, but only in small groups. We killed them effortlessly.

Once we got to the Science Museum, Kairi spoke up.

"So are we actually going in here or what?"

Leon glanced at her. "Of course not. What would you even find in there? I don't think Elena and Jonathan would be too happy with us if we only brought back some dinosaur bones."

Kairi stared at him, offended that he responded so harshly to her comment.

Ah, well, that's what you get for being a turd, Kairi.

Instead of going in the museum, instead we began walking toward a collection of apartments and hotels to the left.

Once we entered a hotel building, we were met with more zombies.

"Okay, open fire!" Leon yelled. We pulled out our guns. Shortly, the lobby was filled with the sound of bullets. Loud shots were heard from Leon and Cloud, with quieter ones came from me and the rest of the teens.

Once the last one fell dead on the ground, Cloud motioned for Leon to follow him down the near hallway.

"We'll be right back," he said, as they disappeared.

Grunting, swearing, and a large _thunk_ were heard from where they left to.

"Do you think they need help?" Naminé asked quietly, mainly to Kairi.

"Nah, they've probably got it," she responded. They came back lugging a coffee machine twice the size of Cloud. Strange, but it'd be a successful way to block the door.

The two policemen set it down in front of the lobby entranceway in an attempt to keep the zombies out. Smart, considering we'd probably just called over plenty of them with our wild shoot-out.

"Alright, there's got to be spare keys that the owner kept around here," Leon said, looking around behind the counter area.

"What about the room back there?" I asked, pointing a slender finger toward the room located just behind where he was looking.

Under my guidance, the group moved into the room. Indeed, there was a large, black box connected to the right wall inside. However, as Leon tried to find out if it was what we were looking for, he discovered that it was locked.

"Kairi?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, I know," she said. Riku handed her his backpack, and she retrieved the lock-picking kit inside. She began to pick the lock that was keeping us from salvaging the internal goods.

"Where did you learn how to do that, anyway?" I asked. I was genuinely curious.

"Tumblr, actually," she snorted, "but this lock is too small to be picked. It looks like it needs a special key."

After all of us looked around the room, Naminé found a set of small keys on a large metal ring.

"It looks like the suites are on the even floors," Cloud said, observing a floor plan map he discovered on one of the cluttered desks. "They're located at each end of every hallway."

He told Leon the specific numbers, who was next to the now open box, ready to pull out respective keys.

"All right. Axel and Riku, you get floors two and four." Leon threw us the keys needed. "Meet us back here in ten minutes."

We nodded at him and then left to find the nearest staircase. Both of us pulled out our flashlights and turned them on, as there were no windows to light our path anymore.

We quickly plundered the rooms—flashlights leading the way—unearthing and cramming any non-perishable food items we could into my empty backpack. It became heavy quite quickly; a couple bottles of Advil and some Nyquil were stuffed between the various cans and pouches. Riku found a blanket, and packed it into his backpack. We were back in the room within eight minutes. Thankfully, we were met with only one undead, which Riku killed with ease.

Once we returned to the lobby area, we noticed we had to use our flashlights here, when we didn't have to before. Glancing out the windows, we realized what was blocking light from entering. Zombies had surrounded the area, pounding on the door and scraping on the windows. The number of them that we saw through the glass was more than just a couple. I would guess the horde we saw earlier caught up with us.

Well, shit.

We waited around for the other four. When they arrived, we pointed out the problem.

"There's more doors than just the front one," Leon reminded us.

We all followed him through the length of the first hallway. There was a fire escape at the end of it, the red 'Exit' sign lighting up the dim hallway with a faint glow.

We burst out the door and into an alley in the back of the building.

"We should move fast," Cloud whispered harshly.

Our group made our way to our right, back toward the direction of the Science Museum. Once we got out of the alley, we traversed our way back to the main street that connected the museum to the apartment building we just raided. This was a big town, and it was easy to get lost. It's good to remember large landmarks, it really helps.

The six of us ran on the sidewalk, as there were fewer cars there. However, after only walking so far, we were met with a problem. In the distance, a large group of zombies were seen shuffling around. Because of this, we turned to the right and began to walk at a brisker pace. We realized quickly that there were some down there as well.

"Crap," Leon said, "we have to turn around."

"Dude, there are zombies behind us too," I reminded him.

"Shit!" Leon all but yelled.

"What do we do?" Riku asked.

Leon looked distressed. "We'd better head into the museum. It's our best bet."

Following his instructions, we whipped around yet again and made a wild dash toward the doors of the Science Museum. Naminé reached them first, and tried to pull them open, but found that they had been locked. We tried the other several pairs of doors. All locked. Riku— thinking quickly— yanked open his backpack, took out the picking kit, and tossed it to Kairi.

"Hurry," Cloud urged. And boy, was he right. The herd of zombies that was preventing us from leaving the hotel was heading straight for us. Kairi hastily prepared for picking one of the locks as the rest of us prepared to kill off any zombies that got too close.

Our preparing was needless, thankfully, because Kairi unlocked the door with ease. We scrambled inside, making sure that Kairi locked the door again from the inside, protecting us from zombies. Collectively breathing a sigh of relief, we entered the building.

It was HUGE inside. And I mean ginourmous. There was a grey-colored light everywhere, as glass windows surrounded the area. There was a long, cream colored booth that was lining the back wall, fenced in by retractable tape barriers.

It smelled like death. There was no other way to describe it.

"Well," Leon said, "we should start looking for other exits out of here. I know there's probably plenty."

"Yeah, but we should still stick together," Riku mentioned.

"Right, kid," Leon answered.

After locating a map of the area behind the counter, we decided to head down to the first floor parking lot. Since we were on the fifth floor, we'd have to climb our way down together, careful to avoid the dead en route.

Walking down the halls toward the main staircase, we noticed piles of dead zombies across the floor.

"What is with the mountains of dead guys?" I asked.

Leon, who was ahead of me, shrugged his shoulders. We weren't met with _any _zombies on our trip to the main room, either. I had to admit, it was pretty strange.

Once we arrived on the main stairwell, which connects the floors together in a large area, we looked down over the ledge at the first floor. There were a lot of boxes piled along the cafeteria space. Huh.

We jogged down the long staircase with ease until we reached the bottom floor. Seeing the boxes piled along the glass wall, we had to investigate. Reaching the cafeteria, we opened some of the boxes with our knifes. They were full of… sand? Oh, it was blocking the door from opening. I see now. Wait, if it was preventing the door from opening, then it must mean that—

"Put down your weapons. NOW!" A gruff voice behind us yelled. I felt a gun barrel placed in the middle of my back, so I quickly dropped my knife and raised my hands lazily. Glancing out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Riku and Naminé do the same. I heard Cloud's sword and rifle clatter to the ground.

"Guns, too," another, more delicate voice added. I felt the gun poke into my back, so I reached behind me slowly to pull out the pistol that was in my jeans. I dropped it on the floor.

"Turn around," the one with the rough voice called. "Slowly, now. We don't want any funny business, got it?"

I turned around gradually to face our attackers, as did the rest of my group. I was met with quite the sight.

And by quite the sight, I mean a beautiful blond with abyssal blue eyes and hair soft enough that it could be feather down. Hooo baby only if he had gone to my school, I would have ravaged him the first time I saw him in the hallway. However, he had a gun to my chest, and would probably shoot me if I tried that right now. He was glaring at me with almost murderous intent.

"How did you get in here?" he asked, pink, rosy lips moving alluringly. And ah, that voice. Flowing honey, that's what it sounded like. What _was _the specific word used again to describe anything that had a nice tone? Once my third grade teacher told me that when using that word, imagine a river of honey slowly running. Meliculous? No, that's not right. Oh, mellifluous. That's the word. His voice was _mellifluous_.

"He asked you how you got here," the dude with a grey-streaked hair and an eye patch said. Yuck, don't tell me that this adorable blondie here was hanging around with this creep. "Are you stupid? Or just fucking deaf?" he addressed our lot. He was jabbing Leon's chest with his carbine, who was sharply glaring at him.

"A horde was following us, so we ran in here. We're not trying to steal your stuff or anything," Leon explained. "I swear, we were just passing through."

Eye-Patch Man smirked. "Yeah right, dumbass, then why did you open the boxes?"

"We locked and barricaded all of the doors," my blondie said, turning to Leon, but keeping his gun on me. "So how did you get in?"

"Kairi picked the locks," Leon clarified. "It was an honest mistake, so if you would just—"

"Shit," Eye-Patch Man interrupted. "They're going to be all over the place now, you fucking dumbasses!"

"No, we locked them behind us," Kairi piped up.

Eye-Patch Man turned toward her. "Hoh hoh hoh. Woah. Hello, cutie," he grinned. I could almost hear Kairi grimace in disgust.

"Leave her alone!" Naminé cried, her voice soft but desperate.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," he mused. "Two adorable mice. Can I keep them?"

Blond-Haired-and-Blue-Eyed scoffed. "Shut up, Xigbar."

Xigbar frowned (which wrinkled his eye patch), keeping his gun steady against Leon. "Fine, since I'm feeling really generous today, I'll share. You can have the blonde," he said.

"Cut the crap," the other blond said. He pulled out a walkie talkie that was clipped to his belt. "Larxene," he spoke into the receiver.

"What?" a scratchy, snide voice responded through the black box.

"Come to the cafeteria," he drawled, then turned around to look in our direction. "And bring some rope."

†

We were tied up in groups of two, back to back in the cafeteria area. A large machine was nearby, covered in nets and white balls. Useless, but it _was_ the Science Museum after all. I was tied up with Kairi… just my luck, right? My arms were tied by their wrists behind my back, and although they had just finished roping us up like animals, my arms were beginning to ache from being pulled at such an awkward angle.

Larxene, a woman no more than twenty-five with strange blonde hair, tied us so tight to each other that there was no hope of escape. The six of us were caught like rats in a trap.

Our three captors stood in front of where we were tied to survey their work.

"What should we do?" Larxene asked bitterly. "Shouldn't we just shoot them?"

My eyes bugged wide.

Xigbar just laughed. "No, m'dear. Remember who's in charge, and remember that he's busy right now. We have to wait for his decision."

"Right," Larxene sneered, "Mr. Tan-and-Buff-and-Super-Almighty. Thanks for the reminder."

"What's going to become of us?" Leon asked the trio, his voice wavering the slightest bit.

"As I said," Xigbar reminded him. "You're going to be here until the boss returns from his trip into town with the others."

"You never said that," Larxene smirked.

"Yeah, like I never said that you're a dumbass?"

Larxene snorted. "You never said it 'cause I'm not. _You_ are."

Xigbar raised a clenched fist. "You clever little sneak," he jeered. "You wanna fight? Is that it?"

The blond interrupted. "Just… shut up. Both of you." He wore a frustrated expression. Oh, babe, don't do that! You're too beautiful to be upset!

"You know what, Roxas," Xigbar started. Roxas, finally! I have a name for the face! "You can shut up yourself."

"He doesn't talk very much, Xiggy," the blonde girl mentioned snidely. "So make his words that he does say _count_. So shut it."

Xigbar threw his hands up in exasperation. "Arrgh! I can't stand either of you shitheads!"

"Yeah, ever thought that we couldn't handle you too, Patch Boy?" Larxene asked, reaching up to play with one of the blonde antennae sticking out of her hair.

As the two bickered, I studied Roxas. Although he was wearing a jacket, I could tell that he was thin; either due to a lack of food or because of his short stature. And really, he was _short_. He stood as tall as Larxene's chin and the middle of Xigbar's chest.

And what is with their strange names? I've never heard names like theirs before. The only time I've come across names like these were in a video game I used to play _years_ ago. But that was a while ago, I can't even remember the name of it.

But, really he was quite beautiful. Sora could go screw himself, 'cause I think I've found me a replacement.

Sora was kind of like a toy that's given to a kid. But it's a toy that he's never seen in a store before. He likes it, and plays with it. Ah, but then his parents buy him a new gift that he's passed by in the store every time they go.

"_I want that one, Mommy!_"

And from then on, he'd play with his new shiny toy, forgetting about the other. If only Roxas wanted to be played with. We'd have to see.

"Why are you holding us hostage?" Leon asked. The boy I was just thinking about walked over to him and kneeled down, facing him, so they were at eye level. "Why don't you just let us go?"

Roxas gave a small chuckle. "Right, so you all can go back to your hideout and tell your people where we are? So you can gather enough resources to raid us when we least expect it?" He stood up, but still looked at him. "A chance none of us in this group will be likely to take again."

"We promise, we won't tell our group that anyone's here," Kairi said, voice resonating through my back. "_Promise_."

Roxas moved to the other side of me and Kairi to look at her menacingly. "Yeah, that's exactly what the other group said too. Don't think we're stupid enough to fall for the same trick."

"But we're not! I promise we won't! Just… please… let us go…" she began to plead with him. "What did we ever do to you?"

"You trespassed," was Roxas's blunt answer.

"We didn't mean to," I said. "Leon already told you that. We were just curious about the boxes."

By now, Larxene and Xigbar stopped their bickering and moved over to where they could see what was going on.

"And if you guys don't shut your fat mouths, I'll shoot you right here," Xigbar huskily snarled.

"Now Xiggy, we don't want to scare our little guests," Larxene eerily stated. It got even more eerie when she whipped out a butterfly knife and began to twirl it around. Her actions were definitely hypocritical, as I felt Kairi stiffen behind me.

"Xemnas should be back soon," Roxas said. "Wait until his orders."

Larxene ignored what he said, but as I saw out of the corner of my eye, bent down and pulled Leon's head back by his hair. He squirmed frantically, but being tied to Naminé, he didn't get very far. The crazy bitch held the knife against his throat.

"Then why don't we just tell him there were five of them? I haven't gone zombie hunting for days and… let's just say my fingers are getting a little… _itchy_." She grinned manically.

"STOP!" Cloud yelled. "JUST STOP!" Larxene did, thankfully, but walked over to where he was sitting. Unfortunately, I couldn't see quite that far behind me, so I couldn't tell what was going on. But Larxene's snicker was enough to think what she was doing wasn't good.

"Oh, is pretty boy standing up for his little boyfriend? Let's see how long that lasts, cause I'll kill the both of you. I don't give a shit what Tan-and-Buff says."

"Larxene, that's enough," Roxas pulled her back to where they were originally standing forcefully by the arm. "We don't need you to terrorize them."

She scoffed, but pocketed the knife nonetheless. "I'm going upstairs, I've had enough of this. Oh, and, Roxy?"

"What?"

"You might want to keep an eye on the red one. He's been staring. Might be developing Stockholm." With that, she jogged up the stairs, leaving us to mull over what she just said.

* * *

**AN: And finally, Roxas graces us with his loveliness and beauty (at least Axel obviously thinks so). Some reviews would be nice, but I won't pressure you into anything. Just let me know what you think. Am I horrible? Funny? Only so-so? Constructive criticism is always welcome. Have a nice day :) **


	5. Chapter 5: Needle

**AN: Hey all, thanks for taking the time to read this. You MIGHT get squeamish while reading this scene, but it's nothing too graphic (I don't like writing stuff like that). But really, enjoy. And the two guys get some alone time ;) Oh, and, Axel gets a blast from the past! This chapter made me really thirsty when I wrote it. Have a glass of water at the ready. And this is getting too long. Enjoy, my lovelies :) **

* * *

The sun was setting, giving the room a bright glow as the color bled through the windows. The room was filled with oranges, reds, pinks, and even speckles of blue as the light passed through a mobile attached to the ceiling. What _wasn't_ so nice right now is that I can't feel my fingers, my back hurts like hell, and my mouth was dry. Whenever Kairi moves, it puts more strain on my aching body. Being tied up for hours is not very comfortable. I don't recommend it.

After Larxene mentioned that I was looking at him, Roxas gave me a look that was a mixture of confusion, embarrassment, and fright all in one and scampered up the stairs after her. Ah well, it was my fault for being so obvious. Xigbar stayed behind to keep an eye on us prisoners until their group's leader returned from his trip.

We were sitting around waiting, only small talk between members of our group. Fat chance we would say anything around one of their men. I had no one but Kairi to keep me company. Lucky me. In short, I was bored as hell.

However, everyone's inattentive attitudes were cut short by feet trampling down the stairs and shouts echoing across the courtyard.

"You shitheads'll do best to watch your mouths around Xemnas," Xigbar muttered gruffly. "He angers easy."

As the footsteps came closer and closer, my heart leapt in my chest and I felt Kairi squirm against my back.

The noises on the stairs came to a halt… I was doubtless they had reached the main floor. As the group neared where we were bundled, I surveyed the faces of each of the opposite party.

The one in the front (presumably Xemnas, from what I've heard about him) was extremely intimidating. He wore a dirtied black-and-white patterned trench coat, splattered with blood. He was also carrying a sword (seriously, where does everyone keep finding these things?) and hadn't bothered to sheath it. The murderous glare etched on his face was enough to scare me shitless.

I scanned the others in the crowd. There was a guy with blond scruff outlining a sneer, one with dark dreads (really, what a strange crowd already), another with a large 'X'-shaped scar in the middle of his face (seriously, could they get any weirder), one with a blond mullet, another with…

Wait a second.

Whereas my heart was thumping wildly before, it moved its way into my throat when they came closer, almost distinguishing a familiar face.

"D-DEMYX?!" I yelled, finally recognizing the owner of the crazy blond hairstyle. At the sound of my yell, he jumped, slightly in shock. He browsed through our kidnapped faces until his eyes met with my hopeful green ones, blazing with recollection. It… really was him. Truly. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Axel?! Wha— How… I-Is that really you?" he asked, face beginning to glow along with the sun streaming into the room. A grin emerged on my face and I nodded as frantically as I could despite being tied tightly to another body.

His face lit up like fucking Christmas lights and he ran toward me, arms outstretched.

"I thought I would never see you again," he cried, sitting down and throwing his arms around my body. "Axel, I've missed you so much." He pressed his face into the crevice of my neck, cold cheeks coming into contact with my own skin. I felt a tear drip onto my upper shoulder as he shivered.

"Hey, Dem," I chuckled, "I missed you too, man."

"I thought you were dead!" he sobbed into my shoulder.

"Ditto," I whispered. He pulled away, and his red-tinged eyes bore into mine with the intensity of a apart-but-now-together-ten-months-later kind of friendship. He gave a small smile and sniffled, face brimming with happiness, which I'm sure was an exact reflection of mine.

"What a heartfelt reunion. Demyx, that's enough," Xemnas began, stepping out from the halted crowd. "Right now, they're our prisoners, not our friends. So step away _immediately_." Demyx froze, but followed what his leader said, and gave me a sad, longing look before returning to his group. Xemnas motioned for the others in his group to gather around the area where we were tied, and as they did, I glanced at the remaining person.

Was that… Sora? Blimey, it _was_ him! You've got to be kidding me! Two people I know are part of the group that kidnapped me. Small world.

He looked at everyone, and when his eyes met mine he grew a bewildered look on his face, which turned into confusion. But he didn't make any movements to claim he knew me. I shivered.

After they all looked at us, thinking, Xigbar spoke.

"Well? What should we do with 'em, boss?"

"Couldn't we let them go?" Demyx asked, voice slightly wavering. The stare he got from Xemnas was unwavering.

"Yeah," Sora piped up, "and Larxey said they didn't do anything bad!" The glare that he got from Xemnas was firm and harsh.

"I don't care what you decide, I just don't want to do it," the man with the blond facial hair smirked. The scowl _he_ got from Xemnas was menacing.

"Ooo, you're making Xemnas mad," Xigbar said, picking at a fingernail absentmindedly. "Watch it."

"Whatever we do, we can't hold them for much longer," drawled the blue-haired man with the scar across his face. "Just extra mouths to feed." Speaking of, I _was_ getting pretty hungry. Maybe Roxas could feed me. Ooo, maybe even some mouth-to-mouth action.

Xemnas grunted and faced us again. He walked up to where Leon was, kneeling down to look him in the eye. Good for Leon, he kept his face straight and determined, even when this intimidating man was glaring at him.

"Who's your leader?" Xemnas asked, low voice echoing throughout the courtyard.

"Um… we don't really have one…" his voice wavered.

"Bullshit," the man with the blond facial hair spoke up.

"No, he's telling the truth," Cloud said. Xemnas coughed, low voice rumbling, and walked to where Cloud was. Damn, I couldn't see again. I was worried, because Riku was over there too, tied up with him. I couldn't see Riku.

When a loud smack resounded through the room. I could only guess what happened by looking at the surprised look on Demyx's face and the squeal of Kairi, who could see what was going on behind me. Did he just… slap him? Cloud? He was so innocent, he didn't do anything wrong! And shit, that sounded like it hurt.

"I wasn't talking to you," Xemnas grunted. "Know your place. You're _our_ property right now. You trespass, you're ours. Shut your mouth before I cut out your tongue."

The room was silent, other than Kairi whimpering softly in my ears. No one dared to speak after Xemnas hit Cloud. We were all in shock.

"Now, I'm going to find out where you guys are staying. See, we're running low on supplies," Xemnas growled. "So we're going to… pay a little visit to where you all are held up."

My eyes widened. No, they couldn't. We have too many people; women, children, people I had come to know and befriend in the time span of ten months. He wasn't… he couldn't make us throw it all away.

"We'll give you supplies… anything you want," I spoke up in a shaky voice. "Please just leave us alone," I added for good measure. I heard footsteps clacking toward where I was tied with Kairi.

"No, Axel!" Riku called from across the room. "They'll know where we are then!"

Shit, didn't think of that.

"Oh, so you want to protect your home now, do you?" Xemnas smirked, staring down at me, glare menacing and scaring me almost out of my boots. "But, you see," he said, kneeling down to look me dead in the eye. I tried my best to hold his sight with my own, but I was scared. I flinched a little as his cold gaze bore into me, digging a deep hole into my core. "If you don't tell me, I'll have to take it out by force."

He motioned for one of his buddies, and the guy with the dreads tossed him a small metal bar. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was a closed butterfly knife. My eyes bugged and I made strangled noises. No, he wasn't going to… Oh God please don't…

He whipped it open and twirled it around his fingers, smirking all the while.

"DON'T!" Riku yelled from the opposite side of the room.

Riku was too late. Xemnas thrust his hand down and stabbed his knife into my left shoulder. I heard various screams from throughout the room, but none were as loud as my own.

The only thing I could feel from any of my senses was pain. Pain, pain, pain. It was _everywhere_. I mean, I've survived through ten months of a zombie apocalypse. I know pain. And this was ten times worse than any of the other times I was injured. The blade brutally stabbed into my shoulder, its cold silver invading my body and making it bleed down my arm, into my gloves, onto my shirt. I felt cold. Cold, as it pierced through me, sharp and unyielding. As the knife was yanked from my arm, I was met with a wave of brutal, excruciating pain that crippled me until I almost passed out. Damn, and I thought I hated shots. This was about a thousand times worse.

I think I screamed some more, but I couldn't really tell. All I knew was the pain. I couldn't tell if I was sitting, leaning, standing. Pain. That's all I felt. It _really_ hurt. I might've even passed out for a little. I couldn't really tell.

If I did, it must've been short, because when I could open my eyes and didn't see the red lines of pain crossing my vision, I saw Roxas pulling on Xemnas's arm with a stern look on his face as Demyx held a small pistol to his leader's forehead, a look of pure hatred on his features.

"Whoa, whoa," Xigbar said. "We all just need to calm down. Dem, put down the gun."

"Calm down?!" Demyx yelled, "this man just stabbed my friend and you're telling me to _calm down_?!"

I looked at the two blonds' faces with lidded eyes, arm throbbing and pulsing out more blood down my arm, staining my coat with the stuff. Both were staring at Xemnas with a malicious look; Demyx's trigger finger twitching and Roxas holding Xemnas's knife arm with strong force. The knife itself, however, was dropped on the ground. Good, Roxas is safe. Ergh. A wave of searing pain hit me and I almost vomited.

"We're running out of supplies," Xemnas reminded with a surprising calamity, despite looking into the eyes of death. "I was attempting to find their location."

"With torture?!" Sora spoke up. "Xemmy, that's not how we work."

No one in my team talked, afraid that if they did, they might receive the same treatment as I got.

"But they would have never told us willingly, you know that," Xemnas responded. "It was a necessary evil."

"Necessary evil my _ass_, he did nothing wrong." This time, Roxas spoke up, defending me. "It wouldn't have hurt to talk it out, and instead you come in, guns blazing. Why in the world did you think that would have changed anything?"

"What Roxas said," the man with the facial hair spoke. "I think one too many 'accidents' on your part, Xemnas, have been happening lately."

"I don't think you all understand. I only did it for the security of our group, no need to get fussy with just—"

"Silence, traitor!" Demyx shouted, shoving the pistol inside Xemnas's mouth. His eyes narrowed in concentration as Xemnas gagged around deathly metal. "Larxene!" he called. "Come over here, and bring the leftover rope."

She did as he asked, and Roxas held him steady while she diligently tied Xemnas's wrists behind his back… all while Demyx held the pistol to his forehead. Then, they dragged him to a white pillar that was connected to the ceiling, and tied the rope around it, securing him in place.

"There, that should do it." Demyx stepped back from his handiwork and gave Xemnas a once-over. "Any objections to leaving Xemmy like this?" No one in the group responded. "Good."

"Um, Demyx," Sora insinuated, "you might want to check on your friend, I think he's not having such a good time."

I think he was talking about me. And I wasn't. My head was feeling faint from the blood loss, my arm hurt like hell, and I could barely keep my eyes open. They were dropping, and my vision was blurring from the pain. I only just registered what he said.

"Yeah, I'm working on it." He picked up Xemnas's forgotten knife on the ground, and began to hack at the ropes connecting me and Kairi. Ah, the pressure on my wrists relaxed and my back wasn't strained anymore. But my arms and legs were wet from my blood, and my shoulder was on fire.

"Roxas, can you take care of him? The rest of us are going to talk things over, and you're the main man, after all." I gazed hazily through half-lidded eyes at the two. _Huh? Roxas was going to… take care of me? Oh, right, my arm._

"Yeah," Roxas nodded.

He bent down to my level, and then threw my right arm over his shoulder.

"We gotta get to the fourth floor, that's where we keep our supplies," he grunted, hoisting me up by an arm around my waist. I tried to pull my own weight the best I could, but the throbbing pain from my arm made it hard to see straight. We began to walk toward the staircase, Roxas supporting me.

We stumbled up the stairs, Roxas mumbling incoherently as he strained with my weight. I was grimacing in pain each time he stumbled, pulling on my arm. As we moved, his palms kept a strong grip around my waist, and I tried my best to hold his shoulder in a vice grip. Somehow, we made it to the fourth floor. I could walk, but had to lean into him for support. Thankfully, we only had to hobble down one more hallway, its walls covered in displays, to get to the 'supply room'.

"Ugh my arm hurts," I mumbled.

"Yeah, I know," he responded.

It was a small room, no bigger than ten square feet, but it was filled from floor to ceiling with cardboard boxes. Hah, and Xemnas said they were running low on supplies. Yeah, right. Roxas set me down on a leather chair near the doorway and scrambling around and opening boxes to find the medical supplies.

"Usually we just use water and cloth. But you'll need some stitches."

I groaned and sank lower into the chair. Shit, it's going to hurt. A rush of pain and anticipation washed over me.

When I recovered, Roxas was standing in front of me, kneeling down and looking up at my face.

"Here," he said, thrusting a water bottle forward toward me, hoping I would grab it. I did. "And take these," he added, showing me some pills in the palm of his hand.

I tried to unscrew the water bottle, put my muscles didn't seem to be working in tandem with my mind at the moment. Roxas sighed, reached over, and unscrewed it for me. Haha, screwed.

I raised the bottle to my lips and took a huge swig. The dryness in my mouth dissipated as I gulped down the cold water. It cooled my throat and gave me a burst of energy and a feeling of refreshment.

"Take these too," he reminded, holding his palm out to me. With shaking fingers, I brushed my hand across his palm, scooping up the pills in the process. I forced them in my mouth and took another huge swig of water, this time swallowing the pills with a little difficulty.

"There, not so hard," he said. Haha, he said hard. I looked over on the ground near Roxas and noticed a med pack laying there, lid open so I could view its contents. I saw some thin, black thread wound up really tight into one of the containers.

"This is probably going to hurt. A lot," Roxas said bluntly. Next thing I knew, he was stripping me of my coat. He unzipped it and I shivered as crisp, cold air blew around my torso. "It'll be over soon, so just bear with it."

"Ergh…" I groaned.

Then he reached for the top button of my flannel, ready to pull off my shirt. After he threw my flannel to the side, he reached in his back pocket to pull out a knife. My head was too groggy to comprehend what was going on, so my expression and thoughts barely changed from his action.

"You can't move your arm, so I have to cut off your tank top," he spoke.

I shivered uncontrollably, but nodded slowly through clicking teeth and twitching arms. He reached for the bottom of my shirt with the knife and cut along the front, slicing a straight thin line up to the collar. He pushed the shoulder strap off of my arm, exposing my chest to the freezing air.

I admit… I've got a pretty nice chest. I mean, I work out all the time. It is the apocalypse after all. Got to make sure I'm fit enough to pull my own weight. But Roxas didn't react. Didn't even bat an eyelash.

Alright, he coughed slightly, if it means anything. He brought the other strap down off of my shoulder, careful not to touch my injured arm. My head swam, and my arm ached. And it was about to get a hell-of-a-lot worse. I raggedly inhaled, preparing myself for the worst. Roxas reached behind him to grab something, but I couldn't quite make out what it was. Oh, it was rope. He was tying my wrists to the chair. I winced when he tied my left one, as it sent a bolt of pain through my arm.

"Can't have you moving around, 'cause it'll mess up the process," he said, tying the knots tight.

"Okay, I guess," I mumbled. My head rolled back and I clenched my eyes the best I could. I think the pain medication was kicking in a little, because my arm felt lighter.

That was until Roxas stuck the needle in me. _Ouch, ouch, ouch._ That didn't feel too nice. I could feel the thread passing through my flesh, sewing my shoulder skin back together. The dried blood caked on my arm crumbled and dusted Roxas's arm as he worked. I tried my best not to look. I felt the needle and thread weave in and out, in and out, until I felt a sharp tug. He was done, and had tied it.

Oh, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After untying the ropes, he got up one last time, returning with more water, a granola bar, and a towel.

"Eat this." He thrust the bar into my hand. Then, he opened the water bottle and poured some of it onto the towel.

"What're you doing?" I semi-slurred, slowly gaining a coherent head after the blood loss and pain radiating from my arm began to leave.

"Cleaning the blood," was his response.

He did exactly what he said, and wiped across my arm, chest, and sides with the wet towel. After he cleaned me off, he rummaged around in the piles for another shirt for me to wear.

"You'll have to wear your jacket, though," he added, helping me into the long-sleeved turtleneck sweater he thought would fit me. I nodded.

"Thanks for your help… Roxas, was it?" I asked.

He nodded, looking down and not meeting my eyes.

"We should get to the others. I'm sure they're worried," Roxas said, still avoiding eye contact. He boxed up the supplies as I dug into the bar, munching slowly. Thank God, the pain was ebbing away.

"I'm sure…" I mumbled slowly, mouth full of granola bar. He grunted and began to walk out the door.

"Wait!" I called after him. He walked back into the room, this time looking straight into my eyes. They were beautiful, the color of a deep sapphire. Damn, I could stare into them all day.

"Umm, I might need help down the stairs," I quickly said. "Wouldn't want to fall and break my stitches," I laughed awkwardly, hoping my excuse would suffice.

He just grunted slightly and turned away to look out the hallway. I wobbled over to him and linked my right arm (my good one, that is) in his.

"Thanks," I grinned. Since I was significantly taller, I had to look down to see his reaction. He was emotionless

So much for trying.

_Ah well,_ I thought as we made our way back to the atrium steps again.

I had a feeling we'd be seeing a lot more of each other from then on. Not that I mind or anything. In fact, I was looking forward to it.

* * *

**AN: Hope you liked :) btw, are you supposed to do a disclaimer? If you are...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH or any of the characters.**

**There. Thanks to Panda54 for being awesome and cool and supporting this story. Check out her fic 'Easier to Run', cause it's really good. Have an awesome day, everyone :) Oh, and review if you can find the time.**

**PS: All the chapter titles are song names on my iPod. Just thought you should know. I don't own those either.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Devil Never Sleeps

**AN: Hey, everyone :) I'd like to say a quick thank you to everyone that followed and favorited and reviewed this story. Your feedback is awesome! Panda54 drew some fan art for the last chapter, I'll try to put the link in my bio if you want to check it out! Kudos to her for doing this for me (you rock so much that all the scissors in my house broke)! Sorry this chapter is short, but I'll explain why it is at the bottom (it'll be a long but important author's note). Thanks so much for your support, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter**

**-MaddeThee**

* * *

As we walked together down the long winding stairs, covered with glass panels on each side, I held Roxas's arm in a vice-like grip. I admit, I was still feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

I'm sure Roxas was annoyed with me. I was like some horny hound dog, following him around everywhere and drooling all over his feet. It seemed like he has been taking care of me a lot: protecting me from Xemnas, stitching me up, even helping me walk down the stairs, for fuck's sake. I was helpless, and I seem to be in this situation a lot since shit went down.

I was useless dead weight.

"I wouldn't say that," Roxas said.

Wait, did I accidently voice my opinion?

"Your group brought you along for a reason, right?" he added.

"Yeah, but all of us have to scour the city at some point," I mumbled.

"How many people do you have, anyway?" he asked.

"Um… forty? Fifty?" I responded, gripping his elbow tighter into my side.

"Damn, that's a lot."

Wait, I just told the 'other side' more information about us. My goal was to protect us, not to put us in danger. Wow, I just completely proved my point, I guess. So not only am I useless, but I even bring this team down. I heaved a huge sigh, deciding to abandon the subject.

"So how did a cutie like you get stuck with a bunch of freaks like them?" I chuckled, glancing down at his face to see his reaction. Embarrassment began to seep onto his cheeks, dyeing them a pinkish hue. He was absolutely adorable. I just wanted to roll him up in a tortilla and eat him.

"Um, that's none of your business," he answered, slightly flustered.

"Hey, I was just curious. Plus, people usually ask questions about each other when they want to get to know someone better," I smirked.

Roxas didn't answer me, concentrating on keeping ourselves from tripping down the stairs as we took each step with care.

"So you didn't answer my question, Rox."

"I _said_, none of your business. And don't call me Rox."

"Whoa, so snippy."

"…" Roxas chose to ignore me again.

"What happened to Mr. Nice Guy who was patching me up not so long ago?" I asked.

"That wasn't being nice," Roxas said, "that was taking care of business."

"It's all about the business. Yours, mine, taking care of it. Was that your major in school or something?"

"Could have been," Roxas said. We were almost to the bottom of the staircase. A large, red number '2' was painted on the pillar on our left, its information underneath revealing that there was a dinosaur exhibit on this level. That was all I could make out as Roxas and I quickly moved on to the next staircase. I could hear chattering amongst our groups downstairs.

"You're really enigmatic," I stated. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roxas stare up at my face. I pretended not to notice and continued to waltz down the stairs. He glanced away after a little bit.

Once we reached the bottom, he let go of my elbow and walked in front of me.

Don't tell me he's scared of me too, just like all of those other people. _Brilliant Axel strikes again_, I thought. _Great job, coming on too strong from the start like that, that made him like you a lot._ I guess I just had a nack for always screwing things up.

I followed behind Roxas as he strolled to the cafeteria area again, passing by an upturned table and nearly tripping on pages of newspaper littered about the floor. Before I could get over to the main area, Riku ran up to me, brushing Roxas's shoulder slightly on his way.

"Axel!" he yelled, relief flooding his face. Wow, it was good to see him again. It's amazing, really… not being able to talk to him for a couple hours made me lonely. Unbearably so.

"Yo," I raised my right arm in a half-wave. "Miss me?" He reached me and placed his hands on either side of my neck. "Oh, careful of the shoulder."

He grimaced and lightened the touch slightly. "Welcome back."

"Haha," I smiled. "Good to be back."

"How you holding up? Did the blond guy give you any trouble?"

"No, of course not. He sewed up my shoulder, in fact." I smiled thankfully, glancing at Roxas's back over Riku.

"And how _is_ the shoulder?"

I punched him lightly on the arm. "Geeze, Mom, I'm fine!"

"Well you're such a baby, I bet you screamed like a little girl when he stitched you," he joked, smirking slightly.

"Did not, dickface."

I had just finally got used to his teasing, and even began to retort with my own snide remarks. But we didn't really mean anything by it. It was just the way we show our friendship, I guess.

We walked back to the group together. Larxene and the other blond were sitting on top of a cafeteria table, talking. The one with the scar was watching Xemnas, armed with a gun and pacing in front of where he was tied. The other guy with the dreads and a stern look was throwing knifes at the wall. Leon, Cloud, and Demyx were talking together, huddled and sitting on the floor. Naminé and Kairi were also sitting on a table, conversing softly. Sora and Xigbar were nowhere to be seen. Roxas had walked over to Xemnas and the other guy and began to talk with them.

"That one's name is Luxord," Riku pointed out the guy sitting with Larxene. "And that's Saïx." He motioned to the one talking to Roxas. "And the guy throwing the knives is Xaldin."

"Ah, more jank-ass names," I smirked.

"Axel's a kinda weird name too, in case you hadn't realized," Riku retorted.

"Yeah, but it's better than Saïx and Xaldin. Seriously, what were their parents thinking?"

"Eh, you have a point."

"So what's going to happen?" I asked. "Are they just going to let us go or something?"

"Ah… we, or _they_, haven't decided. Apparently, their group has always had orders under Xemnas, who obviously isn't in the position to give orders anymore. I don't think they're going to come to any sort of decision without authority." Riku scratched his scalp through his silver locks.

"Well, they should pick out a new leader soon, cause shit is gonna go down if we aren't back by tomorrow. Elena and Jonathan are probably gonna send someone after us to see where we've vanished off to," I declared.

"We should probably talk to them, then," Riku said.

The two of us walked to the center of the room where Demyx was talking with Leon and Cloud.

"Yo, someone want to tell us what's happening?" I asked. Demyx smiled as he saw me.

"Axel, I really can't believe that it's you," he grinned. I gave him a two-fingered salute.

"Yup, it's really me, Dem," I chuckled. I grinned back at him and plopped down cross-legged next to where he was.

On my right side, Leon gave me a clap on the shoulder. I looked over at him. He nodded; his mouth in a thin, upturned line. I guess that was his way of saying 'glad you're okay' or something. Thanks, Leon.

"To answer your question, Axel, we're not sure ourselves," Demyx sighed. "I would love to just let you guys go, but we've already had a bad experience with doing something like that. I just don't want that to happen again, even if I do know you." His face fell, presumably recalling past memories best left forgotten. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Larxene and Luxord walking toward our congregation on the floor.

"What're you pussies talking about?" Larxene chuckled.

"We're deciding what to do about them," Demyx motioned to me, Riku, Leon, and Cloud.

"Hey, everybody!" Larxene half-yelled. "Get your asses over here… decisions to be made!"

Demyx looked thankfully up at her. He never really liked yelling. Guess some things never change.

Everyone else began to walk over, as they weren't about to ignore an order from crazy-bitch Larxene. As the sun was emitting its last rays of light, their long shadows fell across our bodies on the floor. Roxas's hair was positively glowing. The only one who didn't come was Saïx because he was busy keeping an eye out for Xemnas.

"What about Sora and Xiggy?" Luxord drawled nonchalantly.

"Eek, we're here!" A voice from my left called. Sora was running toward us, carrying a cardboard box in his hands. Xigbar was following behind.

"Whoa, cuddle-pants, wait up," Xigbar chortled.

Of course, Sora didn't, and ran toward the bar area of the cafeteria, slamming the box on a countertop. Then, he bounded over to where we were all gathered.

"Whaddid I miss?" he exclaimed, hopping on the balls of his feet, which made his brown hair bounce on the top of his head. Blue eyes looked excitedly from face to face. Whoa, he's nuts! I've never seen this side of him before. In school, he always seemed calm and collected.

Demyx laughed. "Nothing much, Sora."

"Well?" Larxene interjected. "Get on with it! I don't want to stand around listening to you losers blab all day!" Geeze, was she a bitch or what? Sora gave her a look of disappointment, mouth curved into a frown, so apparently I wasn't the only one that thought so.

"So what should we do?" Luxord asked.

"Well they can't go now," Xigbar commented, pointing out the window. And he was right. The sun had fully set now, casting only dim light into the room. But shortly, it would be dusk, and everyone knew that you don't go out when it was dark. It was common knowledge.

"Ergh, so they have to stay?" Larxene complained, mouth curling up in a sneer.

"Just for a night, you stupid bitch," Xigbar growled.

"He's right," Leon agreed. "I'm sorry, but my group and I are not heading out there when it's dark."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Larxene mumbled.

"You know," I said, "for someone with a mouth like yours, I'm surprised they haven't 'offed' you yet." Demyx reached over and gripped my arm tightly.

"Listen here, pretty boy," she sneered malevolently. "Any more words out of you and I'll have you hanging by your toes out the tugboat on the top floor."

"Both of you, cut it out," Roxas said, cutting us off.

I shut my mouth, careful not to irritate him any more.

"Okay, so you should stay the night," Demyx stated. "But what about tomorrow?"

"Well, we should probably go back. How does a truce sound?" Leon suggested. "We promise not to disturb your group as long as you all don't come looking for us. We've both got enough supplies, so raiding won't be an issue."

"I dunno," Demyx replied. "We haven't exactly had the world be on our side in this kinda situation, remember? I just feel reluctant about doing it. But you all seem awesome, so I feel like we should. What do you all feel?" He gestured to each member of his group.

Larxene rolled her eyes and Xaldin grunted.

"Sure, why not, they're different from the others," Luxord drawled.

Roxas shrugged.

"Yes, they're pretty cool!" Sora exclaimed, looking at our group.

Naminé smiled and linked arms with Kairi. I bet they were excited at getting out of here alive.

"Truce," Demyx nodded and held out his hand for Leon to shake. "See, Xemnas?!" he yelled. "We can get things done without you just fine!"

There was no response.

"Xemnas?"

We all looked over to where Xemnas was tied up. What we actually _saw_ was a pile of rope, sliced and grouped around the base of the pillar. He was gone, and so was Saïx, disappeared while we were busy formulating our agreement.

* * *

**AN: This is going to be long, but it'll be important to the story.**

**So it's final's week in two weeks, and I have three papers due before then. I really have no time right now to write this story (no matter how fun it is for me :D). I'd love to continue writing right now, but my final grades are really a pressing issue at the moment. Plus, I'm putting on a play in a week so that only adds to my stress. During winter break, I'm flying to Puerto Rico, so I won't have the resources available in order to update 'The Calling'. However, I will bring a notebook and write on the plane and such :)**

**So don't worry, dear readers, I will continue to write this story. I just won't be updating for a month.**

**I apologize in advance, but when I come back, I'll upload three or four chapters to make up for lost time :) **

**Sorry about the super long author's note. I will still answer PM's and reviews if any of you have questions or comments about the story. **

**See you all later and with love, **

**MaddeThee :)**


	7. Chapter 7: Nightfall

**AN: Ergh, I know I said I was going to be busy writing papers and studying for finals, but two of my professors cancelled their finals, and I finished writing the papers early. Plus, I couldn't stay away.**

**Ah, warnings. So in this chapter, there's blood, gore (it IS a zambie fic), and a pathetic attempt at trying to be kinda funny. Enjoy ;)**

* * *

"Shit." Demyx jumped straight into action. "Roxas and Xigbar, check this floor. Larxene, there aren't a lot of exits on the second floor so you can go there alone. Xaldin, you get floor three." The ones with instructions grabbed a flashlight from behind the cafeteria serving area and ran off. "CHECK EVERYWHERE!" Demyx yelled after them.

"Is there any way we can help?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, you and him—" he pointed to Cloud, "can get the forth. Just go along the edges, search for exits. All inside doors should already be unlocked, so no problem there," Demyx explained. Leon nodded and grabbed Clouds arm, leading him toward the long staircase.

"Luxord, go up to floor five." Luxord grinned and grabbed a flashlight and a shovel that was resting on the floor. Then, he jogged off in the direction that Demyx and Leon left in.

"The rest of you, wait here. Axel and I will get floor six," Demyx finished and grabbed a carbine that was on top of a table. He threw me another, which I stumbled to catch and dropped.

"Aww, why can't I help out?" Sora whined. I bent down to pick up the fallen gun.

"I think they've already got it," Riku smirked in his direction. Naminé was still clutching onto Kairi's arm.

"Sora, he's right," Demyx said. "But there is a way you can help. If they come back, here you go." He handed Sora a small pistol. "Fire three consecutive shots if you see them." Sora nodded and tucked the silver gun into his pocket.

"We won't run away or anything while you're gone," Kairi promised, smiling wholeheartedly.

Demyx smiled at her. "Okay, I won't get worried," he said. "Alright, Axel, let's go."

"Wait a second," I started, "I just got stabbed, I'm pretty sure I would just be dead weight." Of course, per usual.

"Hmm, didn't think about that," he scratched the underside of his neck. Even Demyx realized that I was, and I had barely been around him. "Alright, I'll take you two then," he pointed two fingers at Kairi and Naminé with a flick of his wrist. Kairi grabbed the gun I handed her, and Demyx grabbed the flashlights. The three of them walked to the stairs together. Now it was only me, Riku, and Sora.

I looked at Riku, hoping to start some conversation, but he was staring intently at Sora, eyes shining hungrily. Instead of seeing that smirk he really held on his face, I saw fangs dripping with salivation. It's almost as if I was watching a wolf carefully watching a rabbit, ready to attack. Of course, Sora was completely oblivious to his stare (in school, Sora was notorious for being an airhead and for not realizing when people liked him—a common occurrence and gossip topic).

Damn, Riku, go get it. I'm over him, anyway. I'm glad I found Roxas, or I would be straddling Riku's stomach and punching his face so far into the ground that he'd see the mantle of the Earth. Probably not quite that drastic, but I would've punished him for stealing my property somehow.

I _was_ going to ask Sora if he recognized me, but after seeing Riku's stare, I dropped it. Riku got the first word out anyway, so it all worked out.

"So what's your name?"

Sora looked up from his flashlight that he was filling batteries with to determine where the voice came from. I watched awkwardly for a couple seconds at them staring in each other's eyes before Sora asked, "Me?"

"Yeah, you. I already know that bonehead over there," he gestured to me. Sora's blue eyes flickered from Riku to me, a grin creeping on his face.

"Heehee, you're funny," he grinned. "My name's Sora!" Sora grinned and placed his thumb in the center of his chest proudly.

Riku returned his grin with a small smirk and extended his right arm. "Riku, nice to meet you."

They shook, and that's when I realized it was my cue to leave. I shook my head slowly, mouth a small smile. I'd seen this somewhere before: Riku's Temptation Technique.

Back in the day (meaning months ago) Riku had a thing for Kairi. He would go on and on about her huge boobs, how beautifully-colored her hair was, and her 'amazingly' blue eyes. One day, he collected up enough courage, and walked up to her with that same predatory glare in his eyes. All he did was have to introduce himself, and she began to melt at his feet. From then on, all was lost. He acted friendly at first, as if he genuinely wanted to get to know her. Gradually, he would lay on the allure with one goal in mind: to charm the pants off of his target. Eventually, he did.

Waking up the next day without Riku in the same room could have only meant one thing. Later, he had come down from the top floor, wrapped in a light blanket and nothing else. His hair was tangled messily around his face.

He had said: 'She's a monster in bed! And not in the good way, mind you.' I had just rolled my eyes.

From then on, Riku avoided her. I never really found out why. Perhaps it was the bad sex he had mentioned. Whenever I brought it up, he pretended he didn't hear me. Kairi hated him for his ignorance, but liked him too much to take out her wrath on him. Instead, she took it out on the next best thing. In this case, a best friend that went by the name of Axel. It's been that way ever since.

I walked away from the two of them, allowing Riku to work his magic. _Good luck, my silver-tongued friend._ Based on the sparkling look I had seen in Sora's eyes, it wouldn't be that difficult to get him between the sheets. However, I was feeling slight remorse for Sora's position. I just don't want to be around when Riku ignores him, because I don't want two people coming after my guts.

I strolled over to my backpack and rummaged around until I found my own flashlight. Cans clinked together and echoed throughout the courtyard. Eek, I didn't want to interrupt their 'courtship'.

"Sorry," I called into the air.

I think I'll take a look around the permanent dinosaur exhibit on the first floor. It wasn't far from the cafeteria, and I want to see how much of it I can remember. Before my dad left, we would come here often. I would always ask them to visit this exhibit, because I loved dinosaurs, and always will. They're just so fucking awesome.

The area was dark, so I clicked my flashlight on, shining the lonely blue beam across the various bone structures and displays. I put on one of the overused plastic headphone sets, designed to tell small children about the eating habits of the 'Tri-pronged Stegosaurus'. Mom and I would…

I told myself to drop the subject. I felt sick to my stomach.

Instead, I dropped the headset and sauntered around the exhibit, the ray of my flashlight acting as my tour guide. There was absolutely nothing different about this room than what it had been before zombies overran the world. No piles of the dead, no litter cluttering the ground, no weapons, no splattered blood.

It was strangely calming, yet extremely eerie. Odd, seeing something that wasn't tainted by the ghastly world we live in. This room reminded me of this song I'd listen to back home. It was a melancholy tune with no apparent name that I'd downloaded off the internet for some light entertainment.

A series of high notes were played on a baby grand, then sets of even higher ones. Next, they combined to create a beautiful, somber melody. It was saddening, but the artist played it with so much feeling, it would whirl up a gust of emotions in me. I loved that song. It always made me cry.

I was fed up with this trip down memory lane, it was doing nothing but bring me sorrowful memories. I decided to return to the main room where Sora and Riku were. They were just going to have to put up with me.

Not a surprise in sight, they were laughing and flirting with each other up a storm. Riku sat cross-legged with Sora's head in his lap, and was obliviously caressing brown hair. I shone the flashlight into each of their faces.

"Any sign of 'em?" I asked, watching their faces scrunch up in discomfort at the bright light.

"Yeah, I have," Riku drawled, "right out of this room. You should go check it out."

I rolled my eyes. "You dick. Fine, I'll leave you two alone then." I walked in the direction of the staircase, but didn't get very far. Down the dim hallway to my left, I saw two blurred figures sprinting toward me.

Shit. I crouched low, hiding behind a wooden display, hoping that they wouldn't see me. Sora had the pistol, not me. But as they got closer and as I peered around the edge of the wood, I saw that it wasn't Xemnas and Saïx, but Xigbar and Roxas.

"Oh, thank God," I called out, arising from my clever hiding place. "I thought it was Xemnas!"

They just kept on running, either seemingly deciding to ignore my comment or were just too exhausted to respond. As they kept coming, I saw why.

Zombies began to pour around the corner, following Xigbar and Roxas. They just kept on coming. I was frozen in shock as they almost tripped on themselves trying to get closer to the two pieces of meat in front of them.

"Shit!" I gasped, turning to dash toward the central area once more. "Fire the shots, NOW!" I yelled frantically to Sora.

Sora bolted up from Riku's lap and yanked out the pistol with a sturdy expression crossing his features. He aimed it at the wall that Xaldin was previously throwing knives at and shot thrice against it. Awesome quick thinking on his part.

"What's going on?" Riku was now standing, head keening to see what the disaster was.

"A horde got in," I hurriedly explained. By this time, Xigbar and Roxas had reached us, and they each grabbed another gun.

"Riku, grab Cloud's sword!" I yelled, heart pumping rapidly. I beamed the flashlight upon the piles of rubble where our backpacks were to grab Riku's fire poker. I heard moaning and shuffling footsteps… and I couldn't see that well, but I could feel the zombies getting closer.

"Quick," came Xigbar's gruff voice. "To the stairs."

We followed behind Xigbar and Roxas as they jogged to the right side of the staircase, as the zombies were trailing in the hallway near the left. I handed Riku his fire poker, and he grasped it along with Cloud's sword.

"How did they get in?" I panted, asking the two who were scouring the first floor as we climbed the stairs.

"Oh, we found where those dickwads left all right," Xigbar growled. "Those stupid fuckers opened all eight of those damned doors. Let the whole city in."

We bounded up the stairs to the second level. Larxene was running toward us on our right.

"What _was_ that?" she asked, holding her gun nonchalantly by her hip.

"Up, up!" Sora cried, grabbing her elbow and forcing her to join forces with our running group. As we were making our way up to the third floor, Leon, Cloud, and Xigbar were running down.

"What happened?" Leon asked, brown eyebrows furrowed on his head and mouth curled down. His scar across his face became distorted as he frowned.

"Zombies, a lot of them," Riku quickly explained.

The three of them quickly leapt over the wooden center railing to run along with the rest of us. Our group moved up past the third and fourth floors, and made our way to the fifth, trying to find Luxord.

Instead of finding a blond mass of facial hair, we found a mass of a blond mullet, shortly followed by a head of dark red and beach-blonde. Demyx, Kairi, and Naminé were rushing down, surprised looks on their faces at seeing the lot of us together.

"Why are you all—" began Demyx.

"Zombies," was all Sora said, pointing down at our feet and cutting Demyx off. The blond-mullet-of-a-head peered over the edge of the rail onto the steps below us and he coughed. The moans of the zombies could be faintly heard as they climbed up after us.

"Where's Luxord?" He whipped around, eyes feral. "He should have heard the shots. LUXORD?!" I looked beyond Demyx. Poor Naminé was trembling, clutching onto Kairi's arm tightly. Kairi tucked a stray blonde hair behind her ear and whispered into it calmly. I glanced over the wooden railing at the scene below myself, and saw a _shit-ton _of them ambling up the stairs a mere flight behind us.

"We've gotta move, guys!" I hissed desperately. "We have to leave him!"

"NO!" Larxene screamed. "WE CAN'T!" Her face was full of rage, green eyes blazing.

"I'm sorry, Larxene," Demyx placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "We've got to move. _Now_."

"NO!" She screeched, dropping her gun. "FUCK YOU, DEMYX!"

Next thing I know, she slumped down on her knees, eyes closed. Then, she fell flat on her face, unconscious. Sora stood behind her, the butt of his gun placed where Larxene's head was and an unreadable expression on his face, eyes trained on her. He turned his head to look at all of us.

"Well?" he asked. "Someone carry her!" Demyx shook his head as if to clear it and hoisted her up in his arms, carrying her princess style. His somewhat small frame made the job look somewhat difficult, as he struggled under her weight. Xaldin, seeing Demyx's endeavor, walked up to him and grunted.

"I got it," he said gruffly. Not complaining, Demyx carefully passed her over to him.

"Let's go," he motioned for us to follow him down the fifth floor hallway. I picked up Larxene's forgotten gun. It would be hard to shoot with my arm being impotent, but I would try my best to help.

We followed Demyx, and emerged in the large area where we first arrived in. It was easy to make out details in this room, as the ceiling and walls were both made of glass. However, this area was absolutely huge. It was almost as big as a professional theater. Hearing the moaning getting louder, I deduced that we'd need to move fast if we were to make it to the other side without meeting trouble.

I ran after Xaldin, watching his thick back sway from side to side as he carried Larxene's weight. I snuck a quick glance behind me… Roxas was running behind me with Kairi and Naminé taking up the rear. Unfortunately, we were being pursued by the horde another forty feet back.

"MOVE, MOVE!" I nearly screamed, whipping back around to face forward again. Apparently, one of the girls had looked back and was now screaming at the top of their lungs. I heard gunshots behind me, so I quickly spun around, Larxene's gun ready to fire. Shit, these zombies were really fast, as they had almost caught up to us, even though we were running. I aimed beyond Roxas on his right, careful as I lined up side-by-side with him. Kairi and Naminé were struggling to catch up. One zombie reached for them, but Roxas shot it down with ease, hole going through its forehead. Naminé was screaming, and Kairi was yelling at her to hurry it up. That's when the inevitable happened.

Naminé tripped, and as a result, Kairi stumbled forward, instinctively letting her elbow go and tumbling down at our feet. We tried to save her, but we were too late.

A zombie reached Naminé and pounced on her, mouth going straight for her arm. The zombie's teeth took a huge bite out of her pale shoulder, the blood spurted in crimson arcs, and Naminé let out a horrifying scream. I felt sick to my stomach watching it, but I was standing in shock at the scene in front of me, I couldn't do anything. Next, he took a huge bite out of her breast area. Along with the blood pouring like a waterfall, a yellow brain-like mass flowed out as her chest was ripped open. Next thing I knew, the zombie was shot dead by Roxas, a straight hit through the head. Naminé's screams didn't die, however, as she bled and bled onto navy blue carpet.

"KAIRI! KAIRI! ACKKK… AHHH!" She screamed words incoherently and violently, blood erupting from her mouth and coloring her chin red. I didn't hear Kairi throw up over Naminé's defenseless wails, but there she was, wiping her mouth with an expression on her face that was breaking my heart.

Tears were running down her dirty face, mouth open in a silent scream, and nose scrunched on her face. She didn't make a sound as her entire life flashed before her eyes. Naminé was her everything, and now she was bleeding her life out on the floor, which means Kairi's life was leaving as well.

I don't know how Kairi got the guts to do what she did next. She yanked the gun out of Roxas's grasp, pointed its barrel at Naminé's head, and suddenly pulled the trigger.

* * *

**AN: Please don't hate me. Namine is actually one of my favorite characters in KH, but in this story, I made her into too much of a wuss :/ I will still be going to Puerto Rico, so don't expect to hear of me for about two or three weeks. **

**Thanks for supporting with your follows, faves, and reviews. They keep me going strong. Strong like the coffee I want to drink RN.**

**Love, MaddeThee**

**PS why does chapter 5 have a ton more views than any other? Huh...**


	8. Chapter 8: Sometime Around Midnight

**AN: I hope everyone's winter breaks went swimmingly. Mine was... alright :) not bad, but not so good. I tried to write as much as I could during my vacation, but I WAS with my family while writing (and on the plane), so I couldn't write what I wanted/needed to.**

**That's right, smut is coming next chapter ;) **

**But first, enjoy this chapter. Fluff warning (if it is a warning). Have fun!**

* * *

The eleven of us had exited the door that our group came in, Kairi locking it behind us with practiced speed from the outside.

The street was covered in a thin layer of snow and ice, coating everything with a freezing blanket. Cars littering the street were painted white, burying their rusted bellies and broken windows and hiding them from our eyes. Broken street lamps once filled with a yellowish light now stood tall against the cold; their black steel posts protected against the harsh season of winter. Moonshine reflected off of shards of glass and lighting the street with an eerie, calm glow.

Despite the freezing cold, we were safe. For now.

Any unsuspecting person walking along the street would wonder why our group looked so strange, bending over ourselves while huffing and puffing. They couldn't have known we just escaped a swarm of murderous zombies, alive for the most part.

Kairi's face was continuously leaking tears, sobbing at the loss of her precious best friend. No noise was heard, but I could tell she was still in immense pain nonetheless. Not a sound came from her lips. She took the pain alone, not leaning on any of us for support. Just carried out what she needed to do for the group and nothing else. She was almost like an empty shell now. Her heart had left her with Naminé. Without her, she was heartless.

Of course, Leon and Cloud tried to console her at first, but she rejected their attempts immediately, again not speaking a word, but waving them off with trembling hands. They left her alone. We all did.

After she had closed the glass door, framed in cheap silver lining, the zombies quickly filled the room and pounded on the doors incessantly, their dirty fists smudging the glass. Broken nails scraped and scraped, creating unearthly squeaking sounds that filled the snowy street. Jaws snapped open and closed and pale blue eyes looked on at us. Faint moaning was heard resounding from the inside.

We took time to catch our breath, as the street was empty. Xaldin struggled with Larxene's weight as we panted, so he moved her to his back instead. Demyx motioned for all of us to get moving. We turned our backs on their former home and began to walk. Snow crunched under our feet as we strode.

As we moved, Leon dutifully informed the group that we should go to the Capitol, see if they would be willing to take in six new recruits. Hopefully, they would be. Today, their group had lost three, it was dark out, and they had lost their hideout. I would fight to make them stay; it would be cruel to let them out into the open in their current condition. Plus, Roxas was part of 'em, so I couldn't let them go _that_ easily.

I was walking alongside Demyx (who was on my right) and Roxas (on my left). The others were in front of us, trudging along the best they could through matted snow. Xigbar was even further along, scouting. However, silence filled our ears, and no one was speaking. We were mulling through the events of not so long ago in our heads, counting our losses and offering our saddened thoughts to the dead.

Our group of eleven made it to the Capitol, snow and ice slowing our cover speed, but moving quickly nevertheless. Each of our members was holding a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other, staying on guard at all times. During nighttime, you never know what's going to happen. However, with Xigbar scouting ahead, it was painless to dodge zombie attacks. Thanks to him, we'd only have to take down miniscule groups while avoiding larger ones. Honestly, we were too tired to do more than that.

We finally arrived at the Capitol, exhausted beyond belief. We all just needed a long nights' sleep. However, when we hiked our way up to the front door, I fearfully noticed that no one was standing guard.

"Why is no one out here?" Riku asked, voice wavering.

"Something's wrong," Leon muttered.

Cloud opened the front door slowly, rifle at the ready, only to find no one inside. Usually, people would be bustling around: doing laundry, making meals, tidying up, helping out, or even striking cheerful conversations in order to pass the time. Now, there was no one across the length of the main hall and no candles had been lit (our usual source of light during the nighttime hours). As we shone our flashlights on the scene, we saw why.

There were biters in here. Only a couple, so we could definitely take them on, no problem. They began to amble toward us from all directions. No doubt the noise and light had aroused them from their endless meandering. Xigbar dashed forward and stabbed one through the forehead, Roxas following suit with another.

"How the _hell_ did they get in?" Riku whispered urgently as he shone his flashlight onto another oncoming one so someone could take care of it. Cloud did with ease, slashing his sword in a flurry of metal.

We made our way to the center hallway.

"We should go to the fifth floor," Leon suggested. "It only has one entrance and would be easy to block off so we can sleep. It'll be easier to fix this shit out in the morning… I don't think any of us are in the shape to be fighting right now."

"I don't know, Leon," Cloud said, voice almost a growl. "This is pretty weird. What if they're still here?"

"Cloud, does it look like they're still here?" Leon grunted. "Obviously not. We'll look for them in the morning."

Cloud looked disgruntled while others nodded their heads in agreement. Honestly, Cloud had stamina for the lot of us. Unfortunately, we didn't. We decided to rest.

†

Each of us grabbed needed supplies from different areas of our group's 'lair', so to speak. We split off into pairs to navigate and carry supplies, one person from the Capitol and one from the museum. Riku left with Roxas to collect blankets and sleeping bags; I went with Xaldin (who was still carrying the unconscious and feisty blonde) to grab a large portion of canned goods and an opener for them; Demyx and Kairi tried to locate some wood, a lighter, and some paper; Leon dragged Sora off to the dining area to find something to cook the food in; and Cloud, accompanied with Xigbar, left to find bottles of water for us to drink.

Xaldin, Larxene, and I reached the top of the building first. Thankfully, we only had to take care of one zombie throughout our adventure. Xaldin had set down Larxene (not too kindly, may I add) to 'take care of the business', as I was lugging a plastic bag full of food.

After we reached the stairwell to the door, we climbed up and yanked it open. It was a spacey room; lined with old cardboard boxes, black filing cabinets holding rotting papers, and heavy metal-lined safes filled the room from top to bottom. They created small hallways and areas that were almost separate from the main section of the room, which held a tan suave couch and a couple armchairs that matched. A few fluffy red pillows were thrown nonchalantly across the set. The room itself was quite large, but the various groupings of cabinets and boxes along the edges made it seem smaller than it really was. The walls were a dark blue, the ceiling a cream color, and an intricately-patterned carpet covered the expanse of the floor.

Xaldin set Larxene down again and helped me move the couch against one of the cabinets so we could make a fire in the center of the room. As we were moving the couch, Larxene woke up.

"What the hell? Where the fuck are we?"

"We're in my house," I growled, "and you're a guest, so you'd better shut your mouth if you want to stay."

She glared at me. "I just lost my brother and you're telling me to 'shut my mouth'? _Excuse_ me?"

My eyes widened, and I dropped my end of the couch by accident. I heard Xaldin growl but I chose to ignore that. "He was your _brother_?" I suddenly felt my stomach curl in on itself. "Man, that really sucks, I had no idea."

"Yeah, you're right. You _don't_ have any idea. Now Luxord is probably dead, thanks to you assholes," she snarled, eyes dangerous and deathly.

"We had no choice!" I yelled. "Did you want to be killed just like your brother? There was no other way to do it without risking our lives as well! I'm sorry your brother got lost, but there wasn't anything we could do about it without dying ourselves!"

Larxene glared at me, teeth bared in aggression. "Whatever," she huffed. "It's not like anyone would understand. I bet if it was one of you bitches, we would've fucking stopped. But OH NO when it's for _me_, the bitch, you won't stop! Now he's gone…" her voice broke, and her hostile face fell to reveal an impassive one. She buried her face into her palms and sighed so loud. It could've been a sob, but I couldn't tell.

I heard a slam as Xaldin dropped his end of the couch to walk over to Larxene. He laid a large hand on her curled back in what I thought was a comforting way. With him, I could never really tell what his motives were. She just brushed him off.

"No, go away," she sighed/sobbed again.

Xaldin shrugged and did as she asked, and lifted up his end of the couch once more, motioning for me to take the other end in order to finish our job. I complied, and with some struggle, we moved it against a series of cabinets, slamming it in the process, which created a dull, metallic ringing sound.

"Whoa, careful there, hothead," Riku's melodic voice filled the room. I turned around to see Roxas and him carrying a butt-load of warm blankets and sleeping bags, enough that they were tripping over them as they spilled out the edge of their grip. They threw them into a pile on the floor.

"I was, smartass, I was just moving the furniture so we can make a fire." I gave him a small smile. "Without me, you would be going to bed without supper tonight, so don't get too smart."

He gave a small chuckle then set himself to the task of moving the other chairs along other sets of cabinets and out of our way.

The other pairs came in one-by-one (Demyx and Kairi were last so they barred the door with a heavy cabinet), and not long after, we were congregated around a small fire that was trembling with weak life in the center of the storage room, huddled in a tight circle together. A concoction of canned beans, corn, and tomatoes were cooking over the fire in a large black pot. Occasionally, it was stirred lethargically with a large ladle by whoever was closest.

We were shivering, trying to stay closest to the fire as physically possible and shoulder-to-shoulder in order to conserve warmth. I had sat down next to Roxas, and our arms were touching through our blankets, making my nerves jump.

Everyone was talking quietly amongst themselves, all except Kairi and Larxene. I guess their losses had brought them together or something, as they were leaning against each other without saying a word. And I guess that was all they needed right now.

I reached forward, my arms leaving the confines of my sleeping bag as I attempted to stir the contents of the pot. After completing my task, I felt a feather-light touch on my left wrist.

"How's the arm?" I heard a musical voice to my left. I looked over to my left to see a bundle of blond spikes popping out of a large reindeer blanket. The brown animal print made Roxas's skin seem lighter and his eyes seem bluer, created by the contrast of colors on the fleece. He was peeking at me with a slightly concerned expression on his face. I gave him a meager grin.

"A hell of a lot better, thanks to you, kid," I answered.

His concerned expression faltered and his face became emotionless once more.

"Just checking," he mumbled, tightening his blanket around his shoulders with a skinny black glove. He shivered. "It's cold," he whispered, most likely to himself.

"That's a winter up here for you," I said.

"I guess," he quietly replied.

"So where were you from? I mean, obviously before all _this_ shit happened." I gestured around us with a large sweep of my arm.

"Umm… here?" he said.

"Oh." I smirked. "Well, where did you go to school?"

He gave a small laugh that sounded like twinkling chimes. Oh geeze, why does every description about this boy in my mind have to be overly-romanticed? Mind, what are you doing?

"Same one as you," Roxas said, tone exasperated in a way, as if he was upset that I forgot him or something, which I didn't, because _hell_, I hadn't even seen him before earlier today!

"Oh, I'd never seen you around!" I exclaimed. "I didn't really pay attention to anyone but my friends." And Sora, but I'd never say that with him in the room. Wow, that's so weird that Roxas went to the same school! What a coincidence. Shit, maybe it was for the better that I'd never seen him. I think the teachers would have probably had a hissy fit and thought it inappropriate if I'd humped him against the school lockers in the hallway (which is what I would've done) during passing time. I would have most likely gotten expelled. Ah well, it was definitely for the better.

"Ah," was his reply. Wait, so this means that _he_ noticed _me_ at one point during school hours then! And then he _remembered_ me months later! My heart sped up as I stared at his soft hair poking out of the top of his blanket.

I couldn't help myself; I reached out and ran my right hand through his hair, fingers brushing his scalp slightly. His strands were exactly how I thought they'd be: fluffy and light. Although it was unwashed and somewhat dirty in places, I thought it felt even better than my sleeping bag I was rolled up in. Blond strands fell about my fingers and fell back into place once my hand left his hair.

He looked at me with wide blue eyes, a blush beginning to form on his pale face. "What was that for?" he asked.

I shrugged, smirking slightly. "It's soft." I cuddled into my sleeping bag, turning to face the fire once more and away from Roxas.

That was when I felt a light touch on my hair. I felt small fingers run through my fire-red locks, exiting at the tips.

Wow, is he actually touching my hair? I wonder what possessed him to do something like this.

I felt the fingers return again, brushing through it to the tips. I turned, wide-eyed, back to Roxas. He was smiling a little.

"Yours is too," he said, smiling softly, which made his eyes crinkle around the edges and his eyebrows rise. I returned his smile with one of my own… a genuine smile. He was so cute.

He shivered some more, shoulders beginning to shake and straight white teeth beginning to clack together. I guess that blanket probably wasn't the warmest. I, being the kind person I am, unzipped my sleeping bag.

"Want this?"

He turned slowly and saw what I was motioning to. His face lit up slightly. "Can I? Oh, but what about you?"

I smirked. "What about sharing?" I promptly wrapped it around and under Roxas, bundling him up inside the warmth. He squeaked in surprise as I got in with him and zipped up.

Our side-by-side position was awkward and uncomfortable, so I pulled him into my lap. He 'eep'ed but didn't stop me, so I wrapped my arms around his chest and held him snug against me. He settled back, blond spikes resting under my neck. I could tell he was a little stiff, but I held onto him anyway. I nuzzled my chin into his hair.

I admit, I was attracted to Roxas because of his looks. There's nothing wrong with that, happens to everybody. But truly, I wanted to get to know him better after seeing small snippets of his personality.

He was interesting. Shy and bashful and cute when there was no visible threat/problem, and that part of him I found to be absolutely adorable. When it was show time, he's determined and strong and relentless and helpful, even if it means that he is unemotional (or doesn't portray his emotions as much). He was an enigma, and I was just begging to crack his case.

* * *

**AN: As always, hope you enjoyed. Next chapter coming fairly soon. I'm pretty sure I'll be editing the first chapters of this story as well.**

**:) thanks for reading, and know that your reviews and favorites and follows are what keeps me going (so please do if you haven't already).**

**Wow I always leave long author's notes. :) whoops.**

**I love you all, **

**MaddeThee**


End file.
